We Were Meant For This Life
by Bellas2silly
Summary: The Drake brothers had been very close to Tara Walker for a long time, since they were children in fact. After Samuel Drake was assumed to be dead, Tara, who was Sam's girlfriend at the time, finds out not long after his supposed death that she was pregnant with his child. When Sam had died, Nathan Drake had become Tara's only family. Rated T, might be rated M later. SamxOC story.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! This is my first Uncharted fanfic, so if I screw something up, which I most likely will, kindly point it out so that I can fix it later. I'm making this a SamxOC story as much as I love Nathan. Maybe I'll do a NathanxOC fanfic at a later date depending on how this one goes...ANYWAY, back on topic._

 _My OC is..._

 _-Theresa (Tara) Walker_

 _-She's about 5'5 in height_

 _-Has green eyes_

 _-Auburn Hair_

 _For her back story, I want Tara to be very close friends to the Drake brothers since they were kids. It's basically your typical 'childhood friends become lovers' type of fanfic. I don't want to give too much away, but basically after Nathan, Sam, and Rafe go to Panama together, Tara realizes that she's pregnant with Sam's child (they were together for over two years as a couple, but were basically best friends before that)._ _I don't really know much about Tara myself, but I'll develop more on her character at a later date!_

 _So, enjoy this fanfic, hopefully you'll like it._

* * *

" _Motherfucker..._ " I hissed.

I slammed the front door shut before grabbing a beer from the fridge and sitting down.

 _My god...I thought today would never end..._

"Everything okay?"

I perked up and felt a smile form on my face as I put down my beer.

"Hey, Anna-banana, what are you doing up so late?"

"You sound angry...and not like an annoyed angry, but absolutely pissed off type of angry." Anna chuckled.

"Well you're not wrong." I pursed my lips. "Come on over, tell me about your day, sweetheart."

I gestured for my daughter to sit on the couch with me, watching her in amusement as she almost tripped over her own shoelaces trying to get over to me. I almost let out a laugh from how clumsy she could be at times, but I managed to stifle my laughter. Finally, she plopped down on the couch, placing her legs on top of my lap as she laid back. I put my arms over her legs and gave them a small rub before I grabbed my beer.

"Well my day wasn't special or anything, everything at school has been boring and lame as per usual...but Uncle Nathan called. He sounded...anxious and worried. He says he's coming over tonight by the way."

My smile faded almost instantly as I tensed up.

"And you just **_now_ ** remembered to tell me?!" I scoffed. "Thanks for the warning, kid!"

"Well I just remembered!" Anne stammered. "I'm sorry, okay? You know how I am!"

 _God...just like how her father was sometimes..._

"So...you said he sounded anxious? Did he tell you anything else?" I asked.

"Well no, but- -"

"That's all I need to know."

I gave her a small smile to try and put her at ease. It almost did the trick, but Anne could tell that something was seriously bothering me and refused to let it go.

"Okay, tell me what the hell's going on. First you're absolutely livid when you walk in, and now you're just calm? Just like that?" Anne gave me a look of suspicion.

I cradled the beer in my hand for a few seconds before I took a long gulp of it.

 _On top of a horrible day, Nathan's now coming over. How could this get any worse?_

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself over. Isn't it past your bedtime already, kid?" I smirked.

"Mom, seriously, what's the matter? Is it because Uncle Nathan is coming so unexpectedly, _what is it?_ " Anne sighed in annoyance.

"It's not that..." I frowned again. "Though it is _really_ unexpected, he could have warned me ahead of time...but you need to get ready for bed. You've got school tomorrow don't you?"

"Well yeah but- -"

"No buts. I saw your report card last month, you need to bump up your grades. Especially in that Geometry class of yours...I'm seriously considering hiring a tutor at this point." I pointed out.

Anne huffed but didn't argue this time as she began heading down the hallway to her bedroom.

"Alright, but you better tell me later! I know when you're avoiding something!" Anne yelled.

"I know! I'll tell you later." I repeated.

I picked up my cellphone, and after finishing my beer, began dialing Nathan's number. I sighed and decided against calling him as I slowly put my phone down, knowing it wouldn't be long before Nathan arrived.

 _If Nathan is dead set on something, he'll be here sooner than I think_.

I stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, just contemplating my life and how I had gotten here. Don't get me wrong, I love Anne more than life itself, but...

 _Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Sam never died in that Panamanian prison._

I was shaken from my thoughts when I heard a constant knocking at my door. I quickly got up and after grabbing another beer from the fridge, I opened the front door, revealing a troubled looking Nathan Drake. I couldn't even speak up before Nathan already let himself in, pacing around my living room frantically.

"Jesus Christ." I sighed. "Nathan, it's a little late. What's the matter? This couldn't wait until morning?"

"Actually no, it couldn't." Nathan spat out.

"Well damn, Nate, if I had known you were going to show up after a horrible day in such a shitty mood- -"

"Tara, this is important, just shut up for a second!" Nate snapped.

I looked at Nathan in surprise, knowing this type of aggressive behavior from Nathan was _only_ if something serious was going on. I knew better than to take it personally, but I was just so exhausted and was losing my patience at this point.

"Nathan...what's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

Nathan finally stopped pacing around the living room, and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"We're going to Italy." He finally said.

"Wait a minute- - _Italy?!_ " I stuttered. "W- -what for?!"

"We've got a lead on Avery's treasure. There's a Saint Dismas cross at this auction- -"

"Whoa, _whoa!_ Hold the fucking phone for a second okay?! Give me a minute to process this!" I nearly shouted. "Nathan...I can't just leave my daughter, _your niece_ , and drop everything to go off on this wild goose chase all over again! It's how your brother died! You guys were _obsessed_ with this damn treasure! _**I** _ was obsessed with it!"

I clenched my eyes shut tightly, and tried taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm down.

"Listen...Tara. I **need** your help. You're just as much an expert on Captain Avery as Sam and I were. I wouldn't ask if it weren't important- -"

"I promised myself that I wouldn't get involved with this _shit-storm_ again. Anne doesn't know about that other side of me, and I want to keep it that way!" I hissed at him.

"And I promised Elena...but...it's about..."

Nathan looked conflicted, like he desperately wanted to tell me something, but it seemed that the words just wouldn't come out. I calmed down instantly from the look on Nathan's face, and grew extremely concerned as I placed my hand on his cheek.

 _Shit...something's really wrong if he's acting like this._

"It's about what?" I lowered my voice.

"Can you come? I _really_ need you on this. I promise I won't ask you for anything ever again and I know it's incredibly selfish of me to ask after everything but...I don't have that many options."

I sighed in frustration as I dropped my hand from Nathan's face, and turned away from him to think about it.

 _I've never seen Nathan like this before...he's desperate for that treasure again, but it's for another reason entirely. We both gave up on Avery's treasure a long time ago, mostly because of Sam's death. It was like a wake up call...what does Nathan even need the treasure for anyway?_

"I don't know what I'm going to do about Anne, but...I'll come." I gave in.

"Maybe Elena could watch her? You could say that you're going away on a business trip." Nathan suggested.

"Alright. _Fine_...just...god damn, Nate...you have me fucking scared." I blinked away tears.

Nate immediately pulled me in for a hug, wiping away the tears from my face after pulling back slightly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...I'm just...I'm scared too." Nathan muttered.

"Please, explain _everything_ to me when you get the chance to, alright?"

"I don't know how I'm going to, but I will. Now go pack your bags and call Elena."

"At midnight? Yeah, good idea." I grumbled. "You're lucky I love you, shit-head."

"I love you too, ass-wipe."

We both burst out into laughter after that and I walked away to get everything arranged.

 _The things I do for family..._

* * *

I stopped by Anne's room after making an urgent call to Elena, telling her that I'd been offered a deal of a lifetime and needed to leave, and technically...

 _It wasn't a **complete** lie._

I hated hiding anything from Elena considering that she had grown to be one of my best friends over the years. After Nathan and Elena had become a couple, and before they even considered marriage, Elena would help me take care of Anne when she became part of my life. Elena was a lifesaver and she practically helped me raise Anne. Elena had taught her things I wasn't really capable of teaching Anne myself. Fifteen years ago, I was the adventurous adrenaline seeker that loved travelling the world to find treasure, it was something I had gotten after being with the Drake brothers for so long. When Anne came into my life, and she was an absolute blessing, it was hard to push away those old feelings of adventure no matter how much I tried. When I became a mother, I had to start thinking about my daughter's life, and I knew that I didn't want her involved with the treasure-hunting business because of how dangerous it could be from experience.

 _But it was hard just walking away from what I had known for most of my life._

Every time Nathan and Sullivan needed my help, I actually dropped everything to go and help them and would leave Anne to go aid Nathan. I usually left Anne with a babysitter, and would collect trinkets from our adventures to sell off and bring more money back home. I would usually put the money towards Anne's college funds and use it for important things. I always tried giving Anne the best childhood that I possibly could, the most _normal_ childhood, because I knew that was probably what Sam would have wanted for her. I was incredibly stupid and selfish before when I was younger, I know that now, and I often felt immense guilt when I left Anne. After my last adventure with Nate, which ended up being a close call for me, it was like I had received the wake-up call I desperately needed. I promised myself that I wouldn't be doing this to Anne ever again, not that she ever knew where I had been, and give up those days of being a treasure hunter. Nathan had soon enough followed my example after he saw physical and mental state I was in. Soon after Elena and Nathan started dating, Nathan had found that he'd rather spend his days with Elena because of his newly found love for her, and love her he did.

"Mom? What's up?"

Anne sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes as she let out a yawn. I could see Nathan standing just outside her door, but I put my attention back towards Anne.

"Hey, sweetheart..." I smiled warmly.

I began running my fingers through Anne's hair, noticing how her eyes fluttered from the touch from still being so tired.

"Anne. I just wanted to say goodbye before I left." I told her.

"Where ya goin'?" She mumbled tiredly.

"I have some business that I need to take care of, but I've called your Aunt Elena, and she said she'll be coming to pick you up after school tomorrow." I replied.

"But why?"

I bit my bottom lip, trying to keep a straight face as I brushed hair out of her face.

"I was just offered a job, an opportunity of a lifetime. I wanted to go and check it out. It might turn up to be nothing, but I'll have to go and see."

I glanced out of the corner of my eye, seeing a look of guilt flash across Nathan's face.

"You'll call right?" Anne asked.

"Yeah. I'll call you every chance I get." I nodded.

I leaned down, kissing Anne's forehead before giving her a hug.

"God, I love you..." I murmured softly. "Be good for your Aunt, alright?"

"Love you too..." Anne yawned.

After realizing Anne fell back asleep, I gently laid her back down on her bed. I stood up, and stared at her for the longest time, nearly bursting into tears when I saw a picture of the both of us on her nightstand next to her bed. Nathan came into Anne's room pulling her covers up over her until she was all tucked in. Nathan put his hand on my shoulder after that, giving it a gentle squeeze. I placed my hand on top of his, and squeezed back.

* * *

Soon enough, Nathan and I had made it to Italy within the next several hours. We got settled into the motel we checked into, and I decided to make sure we had everything we needed before we left after getting the cross. Nathan left, informing me that I had to be ready to go with Sullivan at a specific time, and that Nathan would be sneaking into the Rossi estate while Sully and I attended the auction together. I opened my large suitcase I had brought, opening it to reveal one of my lovely guns I proudly owned as well as a holster that attached to my thigh, knowing I'd probably need it.

 _It was better to be safe than sorry._

When I saw a dress sent into my room from Sully, I nearly blushed from how revealing it was and was also thankful that I still went to the gym these days. It was a navy dress that was covered in sparkles, and it almost reminded me of that dress from that animated movie Anastasia.

 _Anne and I used to watch that movie so many times when she was younger..._

I ignored the feeling of butterflies in my stomach and got ready as quickly as I could before Sully arrived.

* * *

I grew anxious as I met up with Sullivan and went to the Rossi Estate with him. Sullivan gave me a cigar to try and put me at ease, and it did for about fifteen minutes throughout the drive. It was almost hard to focus, but I knew I would have to get my act together soon. I was probably a little rusty, considering it's been years since I've done anything like this, but I knew I would pick up on everything quickly.

"So...did Nathan tell you anything else?" Sully asked.

I snapped out of my daze and took another long drag from my cigar as I glanced over at Sully.

"What else would he need to tell me?" I asked. "We're just after the cross right? It's got something inside of it that'll lead us to Avery's treasure."

Sully looked surprised for a second, before he quickly composed himself.

"Good. Just uh...making sure you're briefed." Sully smiled nervously.

"Is everything okay, Sulls?" I looked at him suspiciously.

"Just fine...just fine, kid..." Sully sighed.

Sully parked the limo and the two of us put on our best fake smiles as we managed to get inside the Rossi Estate without a struggle.

"I have no doubts that Rafe will be here if he knows about the cross." I mumbled quietly.

Sully looped my arm with his as we walked upstairs, going inside a room and unlocking a window for Nathan to get through.

"Well, I'm praying that he isn't here, but knowing our luck...odds are that you're right." Sully spoke lowly in my ear.

"Hey...there's something I've been meaning to ask. Is Nathan alright? Is he having financial trouble? The way he acted when he came to me...I've never seen him so desperate before. He's got me worried." I asked.

"I...I can't really say for sure..." Sully averted his gaze. "But you'll find out soon enough."

 _What the hell does that mean? What are those two hiding from me?_

I walked around the room, skimming through the bookshelves as Sully got comfortable and lit up another cigar.

"Sully?" Nathan spoke up.

"Know what I love about partying with a bunch of crooks?" Sully asked.

Sully turned on the lamp beside him, smirking at Nathan.

"Nobody cares if you smoke indoors."

"It's been a while." Nathan smiled.

"Too long boyo." Sully chuckled.

Nathan and Sully embraced and let go after a minute. Nathan turned and saw me, a light blush on his face as he stared in awe.

"You look great Tara, holy shit..." Nathan complimented.

 _And now Nathan's complimenting me?_

"You clean up nicely yourself, Drake." I teased.

Someone else hopped in through the window and my guard went up instantly as I had my hand hovering over my thigh, ready to pull out my gun.

"Listen uh...Tara. Don't be mad, but uh...I kind of left out something a little important when I came to you..." Nathan started.

"You don't say, what the hell are you two so jumpy for? Don't think I didn't notice, Sully." I gave Sully a look.

Sully scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"What gave it away?" He chuckled nervously.

"Oh I don't know, how about your skittish and nervous behavior- -"

The figure behind Nathan came forward into the light, a look of shock on his face when he recognized me. I turned to look at the man, and stopped talking when I saw who it was.

 _Sam..._

Memories began flooding back to me, and it was almost overwhelming enough that I could have stopped functioning. It was right there and then, that my heart had started to pound rapidly, almost loud enough that I could hear it. My surroundings began fading into nothing as I continued to stare at Samuel Morgan Drake, a man I had longed to be with for so long, a man I thought had died 15 years ago. Sam looked just as shocked as I was as the both of us stood still, not knowing what to do. I let out a sob I didn't know I had been holding back and stumbled backwards until my back hit the bookshelf behind me. It was like seeing a ghost standing before me, and considering the shit Nathan and I had seen over the years, I wasn't about to rule that out.

"Tara..." Sam breathed out.

"Tara, listen to me, I didn't know how to tell you about Sam- -I didn't- -" Nathan stuttered.

After Nathan's hand touched my shoulder, I made a quick move to punch him in the face as I was blinded by my newly found anger.

"You son of a bitch!" I nearly shouted.

"I said don't be mad." Nathan groaned in pain. "Damn you pack a punch."

"Darlin' calm down now!" Sully stepped forward.

"How could you keep something like that from me?!" I cried.

Suddenly I was pulled away before I could get another hit on Nathan again and was turned around until I was being held against someone's chest. I found out that the one holding me was Sam and tried to pull away, but he held my arms firmly, refusing to let go. Sam had tears in his eyes as well, and he placed his forehead against mine.

"Nathan never knew about me until just recently, sweetheart. Don't hold it against him. He told me everything...how much my death hurt you. I'm so sorry. I never meant... _I'm_ _so_ _sorry..._ " Sam muttered.

Sam planted a kiss on my forehead and hugged me once more. To me, this felt surreal, I was almost afraid to even _blink_ in fear that Sam would disappear before my very eyes and be gone forever.

"God, I missed the hell out of you." Sam let out a tearful laugh. "You still got that old lighter of mine?"

I wanted to be laughing with Sam, and I wanted to be happy about Sam's return more than anything, but I just found myself only getting more outraged by all of this. I thought Sam had died, and part of me had died with him when Nathan had delivered that 'wonderful' bit of news. I was still heartbroken about Sam and always had been because Anne reminded me of him so much. Yet here he was, acting like his absence meant _nothing_ when I had been a wreck for almost eight years trying to move on from him. Instead of feeling happiness that Sam was alive, I felt hurt, I felt **anger** , because he had missed out on 15 years of his daughter's life and all for _Henry Avery's treasure_. Eventually, I finally pulled away from Sam, quickly wiping my eyes carefully before my make-up was ruined.

 _And after I put so much work into all that damn make-up._

" _Don't you dare touch me!_ " I hissed. "Not once did you think to make a phone call, send a letter, **something?!** "

"Tara. I couldn't, I was stuck in that prison in Panama for fifteen years! If I could have, I woulda' done it!" Sam looked pained.

I almost felt bad for a second, but then when I was reminded of Anne once more, I began to panic.

"God damn it, I...I can't believe all of this. I can't...what am I gonna do?" I rambled.

I tried controlling my breathing and leaned against a table nearby, trying to just process everything.

 _Oh my fucking god, how the hell am I going to tell Sam about Anne? Better yet, how the hell am I going to tell Anne that her father never died? Or tell her about my life as a treasure hunter? Oh god- -_

"Listen, doll...I never intended for this to happen. I'm sorry you've been hurting. I love you, you know that right?"

Sam gently grabbed my chin again until I was looking directly into his eyes.

"Come on, doll. Give me that smile..."

It was something Sam said when I was upset, and it worked like a charm every single time he wanted to cheer me up. I breathed deeply and blinked away more tears, giving Sam a small smile as our foreheads were pressed together.

"I can't believe you've been alive this whole time..." My voice cracked. "I'm _so_ sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm here now..." Sam smiled faintly.

"Listen...there's something I need to tell you...but...I don't know how to." I blurted out.

Nathan tensed up, knowing very well what I wanted to tell Sam, but before he could say anything, Sam had beaten him to it.

"You can tell me later, okay? I wanna know what you've been up to since I've been gone." Sam replied with a smile. "But we've gotta get that cross first. We'll catch up on everything, I promise."

I nodded and took yet another deep breath as I finally calmed down at last. Sam pulled away as Nathan came over, a look of guilt on his face. I gave Nathan a hug before punching his arm again.

"I nearly had a heart attack. Don't hide _anything_ from me again." I warned him.

"I won't. I've learned my lesson." He winced. "I just didn't know how to tell you..."

"I love you, but my god do you piss me off at times. I don't know how Elena does it." I threw my hands up. "Let's get that cross huh?"

"Listen uh...about that." Sully started.

"What?" I paused and turned back to look at Sully.

"Come on. I've gotta show you all something."

All of us followed Sullivan out of the room, until we were looking down at where the auction was taking place.

"Take a look."

We all looked down until we saw the items being sold at the auction, one of those items being the St. Dismas Cross.

"Shit." I cursed.

"That's Avery's cross." Nathan realized.

"They brought it out of storage just before you guys got here." Sullivan said.

" _I_ didn't know that..." I scoffed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"It was clear you had other things on your mind." Sully mumbled in reply.

"They changed the lot order." Sam sighed deeply.

"It would have to take a whole pile of cash to make that happen." Sully pointed out.

"So in other words, Rafe changed the lot order to get the cross. The only thing is...he doesn't know we're also after it. I don't think he even knows we're here tonight." I added.

"All right, well how long before they start bidding?" Nate asked.

"Fifteen minutes tops." Sullivan guessed.

"Well, there's gotta be some way we can grab it." Nathan said.

"There's just the small matter of a few hundred eye witnesses down there." Sullivan scoffed.

"Okay, well, we just...need a diversion." Nathan stammered.

"Like?" Sully raised an eyebrow.

"Like um...like I don't know. But there's gotta be _something_."

"Well if the guards see us making for that cross- -" Sullivan grew frustrated.

"My god, you guys act like you've never spent time in prison before." I chuckled.

 _Ah prison...that shit was insane._

Sam lit up almost like a Christmas tree as he caught on to what I was about to say and gave the others a smirk as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I nearly blushed from his boldness, not used to being around Sam again after so long, but didn't object simply because I missed him so much.

"If you want something dirty done...then you wait for- -"

" _Lights out._ " We all said in unison.

"Now you're catching on." I smiled.

"Where's that electrical panel for this place?" Sully asked.

Nathan pulled out a copy of the blueprints for the Rossi Estate, laying it out on the table right next to us.

"There's ventilation, electrical. That's it up here." Nathan pointed on the blueprints.

Sam began rubbing small circles with his thumbs on my hip which earned a light gasp from me. I glanced at Sam, seeing that mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he returned my gaze.

 _My god, I feel like a teenager all over again..._

I pinched his hand, trying to get Sam to focus on the task at hand, but all he did was flinch slightly before he moved his hand towards my posterior and squeezed. I nearly let out a moan, not used to another man's touch, _his_ touch.

 _Damn it, Sam..I might jump you before the bidding even starts if you keep that up._

"So we just have to climb up there and kill the lights." Nathan continued.

"And grab the cross in the dark." Sam finished.

"There _will_ be an emergency generator." I mentioned.

"That'll give us a few seconds of darkness to work with." Nathan nodded.

"Meaning...we'll have to be right next to the cross when the lights go out." Sam said.

"Except there's no way we can get that close without being noticed." Sullivan argued.

"Scusate, signori. Antipasti?" A waitress asked.

"Nah, I'm all set." Nathan politely declined.

"Hi, how are you?" Sam winked.

"Ciao." She smiled tensely and walked away.

I smacked Sam across the head gently, hearing him chuckle a bit.

"Would you focus?" I glared at him.

"You know I only have eyes for you..." Sam kissed my temple. "Besides, she gave me an idea...you know, a waiter wouldn't get noticed."

"That could work." Sully agreed.

"Uh huh." Sam hummed.

"That _will_ work." Nathan smirked. "All right...all right, I'll get to the breaker room, kill the power."

"You mean I'm the waiter?" Sam pointed to himself.

"You're the best pickpocket." Nathan said.

"Yeah right." I scoffed. "You underestimate me, Nathan."

"Awe, doll-face. I sense some hostility." Sam cooed.

I turned to look at Sam after rolling my eyes.

"I wonder why that is? You're not exactly off the hook, pal."

Sam leaned in, his lips just mere inches from mine.

"God, I love you." He growled playfully.

"I know you're religious and everything but come on, God's got nothing to do with this." I teased.

Sam tried to lean in closer for a kiss, but I quickly pulled away as I gave him a seductive smile, knowing the effect it always had on him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Drake, but I can't let you do that. You see, it might ruin my lipstick." I winked at him.

Sam bit his bottom lip as he stared at me with a predatory gleam in his eyes and leaned back after folding his arms.

"I've got fifteen years worth of love to give, darlin'. Just so you know." He grinned. " _And I won't be gentle either._ "

It was my turn to blush and stare at Sam in surprise.

 _Well damn._

"Are you both finished undressing each other with your eyes?" Nathan chuckled.

 _And that's how Anne was born. With lots of flirting, and pent up sexual tension..._

"Not yet." Sam joked.

"Alright. Let's get this shit on the road here. The clock's ticking." Sullivan told us.

I followed Sullivan as I blew Sam a small kiss.

 _Shit...it's like everything that happened fifteen years ago never even occurred._

* * *

"Alright, follow me, we'll cut through the cellar." Sully told us.

"I've gotta say Victor, the years have been kind to you." Sam spoke up.

"Thanks, I chalk it up to going vegan." He replied.

 _Vegan? Since when?_

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Ha! Are you kidding me? No." Sully let out a laugh.

I walked ahead as Sully, Sam, and Nathan were conversing with each other and grabbed a drink from a waiter nearby as I sneakily snatched a key card from his back pocket. Soon enough, I saw them standing by the door that led to the cellar, and smirked when I noticed how conflicted and stumped they were when they realized the door was locked.

"Can't we pick it open?" Sam mumbled.

"We can't, it's electronic." Nathan explained.

"God damn, you boys would be lost without me." I chuckled.

"Where the hell did you go just now?" Sully asked.

I downed the rest of the wine I was drinking and handed the glass to Nathan, reaching down my dress quickly to grab the key card and handed it over to Sam with a small smile.

"I didn't know we would need it, but I'm glad I pick-pocketed one of the waiters when I did." I joked.

"You, my gorgeous woman, are amazing." Sam kissed my cheek.

"Who says I'm your woman?" I taunted.

" _I_ says so." Sam smirked.

"Well you'll have to prove you're worthy of being my man first." I teased.

"I can't wait to get back to the motel." Sam winked.

* * *

After Nathan and Sam left, Sullivan and I were left to keep an eye on the cross until the bidding started, mostly to make sure Rafe wouldn't walk away with it. We both kept our earpieces on, making sure to stay in contact as we walked around the area. I had been careful to avoid any confrontations with Rafe, but I knew my luck ran out when someone else tapped on my shoulder. I turned around to see Nadine Ross in the flesh, flashing me a charming smile that almost resembled a goddess'. Nadine was a gorgeous woman that much was certain, though she reminded me of a lioness, beautiful but deadly creatures. Nadine Ross wasn't someone to mess with, and although she didn't look like it, that woman could kick all sorts of ass.

"I don't believe we've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Nadine Ross." She introduced herself.

I knew that chances were, she most likely knew exactly who I was because I was associated with the Drake brothers as well as Sullivan, so I didn't bother in lying.

"Theresa Walker. Tara for short." I shook her hand.

"So, what brings you here? You came with Victor didn't you?" Nadine said with certainty.

"Yeah, I didn't want to pass up the chance to go to Italy. I've always wanted to come to this country and go sight-seeing." I lied smoothly.

"It _is_ beautiful." Nadine practically purred.

I felt myself blushing under Nadine's gaze and averted my eyes away from her because of her sudden change in tone.

 _Holy shit, is she trying to seduce me or something?_

"I guess I should be getting back to Victor, huh?" I laughed nervously.

Nadine grabbed my hand instantly before I could walk away, enjoying how flustered I was becoming, knowing what she was doing to me. Nadine slowly walked forward, causing me to move back until we were both behind a pillar out of everyone's view.

"W- -what are you doing?" I stuttered.

"You know, it would be a shame if you got hurt if you decided to get involved with all of this... _treasure hunting business._ " Nadine whispered in my ear.

I shuddered from Nadine's breath gently fanning the side of my face, and didn't dare move.

"Though it would be nice to see you again." Nadine added.

 _Holy fucking hell...am I...am I getting turned on by this? I didn't really think I was into women up until now._

Nadine pressed her lips to my cheek before quickly turning away, leaving before I could even say another word. I felt my face heat up to the point I actually thought I was on fire.

"Well shit." I mumbled softly.

" ** _You can say that again. I could hear her breathing in your ear. Holy shit._** " Sullivan said.

My eyes widened when I realized that I still had my earpiece on, and that the others heard just about _every_ word of that 'delightful' conversation.

" ** _Okay, so now we know that Nadine Ross is here...and also working with Rafe. Doesn't she have that army for hire? Coastline- -_** " Nathan guessed.

"It's Shoreline, and yes. She does have an army." I cut him off.

" _ **That's not the only thing she has..**_ _._ " Sam added. " ** _But_ _I didn't know you were bisexual, Tara. It was a little hot if I'll be honest._** "

"Sam, for the love of god, just shut the fuck up." I hissed into my earpiece.

" ** _Ooh. I struck a nerve, did I?_** " Sam snickered.

" ** _Sam, stop teasing her, she's probably just as weirded out by that as we were._** " Nathan snapped.

"Just shut up. All of you." I nearly groaned. "I've never been more sexually confused in my entire life. That was just fucking awkward."

" ** _Okay, let's just drop it for now, huh?_** " Sully suggested.

" _ **Yeah, for now.**_ " Sam chuckled.

"Okay, Nate. Where are you with shutting off the damn power? The bidding is actually going to start any minute now. I can see Rafe and he looks ready to _go_. He's not playing around." I said.

I could see Rafe Adler at a distance, looking impatient as he tapped his foot repeatedly while holding his drink. He took a sip, most likely to calm his nerves, but I could tell that he was far from relaxed.

" ** _Almost there._** " Nathan replied.

I finally calmed down after another minute, walking around and trying to see if there was anyone else in the crowd that was working for Rafe or Nadine. When the bidding started, I grew a little anxious again, not knowing how long it would be before Rafe would be walking out of here with the cross if Nathan was too late in switching off the power. My eyes widened slightly when I saw Sullivan raise his hand, realizing that he was now starting to bid against Rafe in order to buy us some time. I was momentarily distracted when my arm was gently tugged on.

"Hey, relax, doll. We'll be out of here soon."

When I realized it was Sam that grabbed me, I relaxed instantly.

"This isn't going to end well. Nate better hurry the fuck up." I hissed quietly.

" ** _I'm trying!_** " Nathan sighed in frustration. " ** _I'm almost there!_** "

Sam let go of my arm and lowered the serving tray down for me, allowing me to get a drink.

"Take a drink to calm your nerves." Sam told me.

"You know, you look good in that outfit." I chuckled.

"I thought so too. It just really brings out my eyes." Sam smirked.

" ** _Kid, you better hurry the hell up. I can't bid anymore._** " Sullivan muttered quietly.

"You better get ready." I told Sam.

I gently elbowed Sam, as I walked away, watching him inch a little closer to the cross looking as nonchalant as possible.

" ** _Alright! I'm in! Get ready, guys._** " Nathan said.

" ** _Let's ruin this asshole's evening._** " Sully referred to Rafe.

When the lights went out, everyone gasped in alarm.

* * *

Sam and I quickly walked together, watching out for guards.

" ** _Sam! Tell me you got the cross!_** " Nathan breathed out.

"I got St. Dismas right here, you wanna say hi?" Sam joked.

" _ **Yeah, we really kicked the hornet's nest down here. Ballroom's locked down, security's scrambling.**_ " Sully told us.

"Hey, Victor, where's our getaway?" I asked.

" _ **Come to the driveway out front...just follow the spotlights. I'll bring the car around.**_ " Sully replied.

After a minute or so, I could hear Nathan struggling, or rather fighting someone and getting his ass kicked. Sam and I exchanged glances when we heard that it was _Nadine_ fighting Nathan to get the cross from him, only thing was, she didn't know that it was Sam that actually had it.

" ** _Give me the artifact!_** "

" ** _Lady, do you know how many artifacts I've collected over the years? You're gonna have to be more specific._** " Nathan chuckled sarcastically.

" _ **Let me see if I can clarify!**_ " Nadine snapped.

I heard another crash through the earpiece and snickered when I heard Nathan groan in pain.

"That's what he gets for being a total smart-ass." I smirked.

" ** _Are you finished? Or do you want to keep being a smart-ass?_** " Nadine asked.

 _Well I guess that's one thing we can agree on, that Nathan Drake is at least 85% smart-ass._

" _ **Okay, come clean. You're no chiropractor. Your technique is really not helping my back.**_ " Nathan retorted.

 _Better change that percentage to 95%_

After hearing glass shatter, I grew nervous, hoping Nathan wasn't badly hurt or even worse.

" ** _All right, I'm at the car. Where the hell are you guys?_** " Sully asked nervously.

" _ **Ah, just met Tara's new friend, Nadine Ross. She's lovely.**_ " Nathan panted.

"She ain't my friend. We've only officially met in person tonight." I rolled my eyes.

" _ **Yeah? Well, it's total chaos out here. They're trying to keep it contained, but everybody's freaking out. I don't wanna rush you but... hurry the hell up.**_ " Sully said.

"Nathan, where you at?" Sam spoke up.

" ** _Good question, you?_** "

"Me and Tara are by the ballroom. Look for this round sign thing, it's on the way there."

" ** _Round sign thing, check._** "

"Good news is, I got a gun. See you soon."

Sam pulled out a gun from his back pocket and loaded it up with ammo. I stooped down as we both heard guards before I followed Sam's example as well.

"I guess it's good news that I brought mine as well." I smirked.

Sam looked surprised before he grinned and pecked my lips.

"I love how we think alike at times. Where were you keeping that anyway?" Sam asked.

"That's why it's amazing to be a woman at times." I chuckled softly.

Sam's eyes widened a bit, before he flat out grinned and he bit his bottom lip, not bothering to say another word. Soon enough, we made it to the sign Sam was talking about and noticed Nathan struggling to hang onto it with guards shooting at him.

"Nathan! What're you doing?" Sam yelled.

"What does it look like?!" Nathan groaned.

I immediately started shooting at the guards, feeling triumphant as they stopped shooting at Nathan and scattered to take cover.

"Nathan! Catch!" Sam shouted.

Nathan managed to catch the gun and began shooting at the guards while they were focused on us. Nathan shot at the guards and laughed as he successfully took them all down.

"You all right?" I asked.

"Yeah, hanging in there!" Nathan replied.

"I can't get to you from here, you got a way down?!" Sam looked worried.

"Yeah! Yeah, I think so!" Nathan said.

"Okay, we'll meet you at the driveway, just head towards the ballroom!" I told him.

"All right, see you both there!"

Sam and I ran, but not before I yelped, tripping over my own dress and began sliding down the roof. Sam quickly caught me, pulling me away from the edge before I could fall off.

"Damn it! I can't run in this thing." I cursed. "Hold on."

I leaned against Sam and grabbed at my dress, using my strength to rip apart the expensive and soft fabric which now exposed my left thigh.

"Fuck, I really loved this dress." I pouted.

"Yeah. It did look great on you." Sam smiled suggestively.

I blushed from his compliment and shook my head as I returned the smile.

"Let's get going, cowboy."

* * *

"Victor. We're kinda stuck here, got any ideas?" I lowered my voice.

" ** _Fastest way is through the ballroom!_** " Sully informed us.

"You said the ballroom's locked down." Sam said.

" _ **Yeah, well now that they know it's you guys, they've cleared the place out.**_ "

"Ballroom it is. You get that, Nathan?" I asked.

" _ **Yeah, got it.**_ "

* * *

As soon as Sam and I made it to the ballroom, we were ambushed by dozens of guards, all of them shooting at us almost immediately. I took off my high-heels, recalling how I had extra ammo clips that were disguised along the heels. I quickly ripped them off, and reloaded my gun, and shot at some more guards as I went barefoot. It might have been several more minutes before I grew impatient and got reckless as I was grazed in the arm with a bullet. I felt myself get dizzy but snapped out of it quickly, after slapping myself on the cheek. I came out from hiding running to another area as I shot three guards right in the head.

 _I refuse to die here. I'm getting back to Anne, no doubt about it._

"FUCK YOU. AND YOU. AND MOST OF ALL _YOU!_ " I shouted.

I yelped as I slid along the marble floor, managing to make it to a pillar I could hide behind and take cover. It wasn't long before Nathan made a big entrance, crashing in through the windows right across from me.

"IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME _YOU_ SHOWED UP!" I snapped.

"Shit Tara! You're bleeding!" Nathan gave me a look of worry.

"No shit, Sherlock! Now let's get the hell out of here before we're cornered like rats and killed!"

" ** _All right, kids, change of plan! Too many people are trying to leave, so the driveway's all jammed up!_** " Sully spoke up.

"Shit, what's our backup?" Sam asked.

" ** _There's that fountain just outside the ballroom! I'll meet you there!_** "

"Got it. Let's go!"

Soon enough, we're all running outside, bullets coming from all directions as we all struggled to get out of this place with our lives. I never recalled running so much in my life, but then remembered how many similar situations I had been in with Nathan before when we searched for other treasures and lost cities. Suddenly, an explosion sent me flying sideways, until my back hit a wall. I fell to the ground, my ears ringing as I struggled to stand up, my vision growing blurry.

" _TARA!_ " Sam yelled.

"SAM! GET HER! I'LL COVER YOU!" Nathan told him. "Sully! Damn it, we're running out of time here!"

" ** _Hold on, kid! I'm nearly there!_** " Sully replied.

* * *

"Shit! Tara! I'm so sorry this happened- -" Sam yelled frantically.

"Sam! For the love of god, I'm okay!" I snapped.

After crashing the limo through the damn wall, Sully had managed to get all of us out there in one piece. We were all a little shaken up from tonight's events, but we were alright overall considering we had gotten the cross successfully. Sam wouldn't let me out of his sights though, as he patched my arm up and continued to worry about me as if I was some fragile doll.

"Hey! Look at me!"

I grabbed Sam by his hair on the back of his head and turned him until he made eye contact with me. Sam actually looked scared, and that alone actually made me feel bad for my aggressive behavior.

"Sam. Listen..." I loosened my grip on him. "I'm not gonna break. It only grazed my arm, alright? Everything is okay, and we're all alive. That's what matters in the end."

"But you coulda' gotten yourself killed- -" Sam started.

"You act like I'm new at this! But the truth is, I've had a lot of experience with getting shot at, your brother also. Just drop it." I cut him off.

Sam sighed deeply as he ran his hand through his hair after I released him and sat back in the seat, not saying another word after that. Soon enough, we all made it back to the hotel. Nathan and Sullivan already went into the room with the cross in hand, but before I could follow them, Sam had pulled me back.

"Hey...listen...can we talk?"

I froze, my hand hovering over the door handle. I let my hand drop when I saw Sam standing behind me, looking a little bashful.

"You don't still feel guilty about earlier do you? I told you, it's not your fault- -" I sighed.

"It's not about that." Sam shook his head.

"Then...what is it?" I mumbled.

"I didn't know..."

"Know about what?" I asked.

"I didn't know that Nathan was going to involve you with all of _this_. I didn't even know you were coming tonight." Sam answered.

 _That's why he looked so shocked to see me earlier. He was just as surprised as I was._

"Well Nathan's my best friend. After I thought you died, Nathan was the only family I had left. I'll always have his back." I told him. "He's done so much for me." I blinked away tears. "He helped me when I..."

Sam appeared to be taken back from my words about his brother, but also seemed pained that it wasn't him that I relied on anymore.

"When you what?" He mumbled softly.

Sam took a hold of my hand, squeezing it gently in a way that urged me to continue.

 _Fucking hell...I...shit- -_

"When I was..."

I was interrupted when Nathan came out of the room, and grew nervous when he saw the look on my face.

"Guys, you ready to open the cross...shit...was I... interrupting something...?" Nathan asked.

"No. It's okay." I spoke up.

Sam gave me a pointed look before turning over to Nathan, and looked shocked when he could instantly tell that Nathan knew what was going on, or rather that he knew what I was trying to hide.

"We can talk later." Sam muttered.

We both followed Nathan to their room, the tension between us being higher than it ever had been before.

* * *

 _I hope you guys enjoyed this first long ass chapter! I had so much fun writing it! And in case I get shit about Nadine flirting with Tara, I just want to say one thing. I mean, we don't really know what Nadine's sexual orientation is really, but I thought it would be interesting if she was bisexual, not that it even matters to begin with, Nadine's an awesome character still. I thought it would be a little cute and funny if she made Tara flustered. Anyway, let me know what you think, I might change the rating for this fanfic to M later to be safe. For obvious reasons...regarding Tara and Sam...I don't know! I'll figure it out!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey guys! Thanks so much for following and liking my story and all of that good jazz. It really means a lot to me that you're supportive. I hope you like this chapter as well! I just want to warn you now, there isn't a full blown sex scene in this chapter, but there is a little mention of it, or a huge indicator that Sam and Tara had sex I should say...I will write a sex scene later! I promise! Anyway, moving on, hope you enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

 **FLASH!**

 _"Come on, dollface, I gotcha! Just jump!" Sam yelled._

 _"One: Stop calling me dollface! Two: I can't make that fucking jump so just leave without me before the cops get here!" I snapped._

 _"Well one: you're my damn girlfriend, I ain't leavin' you and that's final. And two: you clearly underestimate me! I'll fucking catch you so jump already! You're only wasting time arguing with me!" Sam mocked me._

 _"ALRIGHT FINE! GERONIMO!" I screamed._

 _I screamed as I began running at full speed, jumping off of the really high roof top. I felt my hand graze the edge of the rooftop on the other side and nearly had a heart attack, but Sam was quick and caught my arm just in the nick of time. Sam pulled me up as fast as he could, and after we both started seeing flashes of red and blue lights, high-tailed it out of the museum like our lives depended on it, which it did. It might have been several minutes after we reached his motorcycle and hid in an alleyway several blocks away. He finally shut off the motorcycle as the both of us tried to catch our breath. I got off of the motorcycle and began pacing back and forth as I tried to relax._

 _"That was a close call, huh?" Sam smirked._

 _"God, you're such an ass!" I nearly shouted._

 _Sam's smirk faded away as he got off of the motorcycle and folded his arms, giving me a small glare._

 _"Me? What the hell did **I** do?!" He scoffed._

 _"Oh Tara! It'll be fine! We're just browsing through a museum! It'll be so much fun! No one's gonna catch us!" I tried mimicking Sam's voice._

 _"Hey! We made it out of there just fine!" Sam argued._

 _"BARELY! And **you're** the one that triggered an alarm! What the hell were we thinking?!" _

_"God damn it, Tara! Just fucking relax would you?! You really think I was gonna let us get caught by the police?!"_

 _"We were pretty damn close to getting arrested! Nathan can't afford for his brother to be in a fucking prison again!" I yelled._

 _"Yeah, well Nathan ain't your problem to begin with, sweetheart! He's none of your concern!" Sam retorted._

 _"What the fuck is **that** supposed to mean?! Nathan is like my brother! When you're not around, **I'm** the one taking care of him!"_

 _"No one asked you to!"_

 _I glared at Sam, slapping him in the face so hard that his head snapped over to the side._

 _"Fuck you." I spat out._

 _Sam held his jaw before returning the glare and backed me up against the wall. I almost regretted hitting Sam, but I felt that he was asking for it, especially after what he had said. Sam's hands twitched at his side, like he aching to do something to me, even hurt me. I knew hitting me was something Sam would **never** do because he never had to resort to violence, and he was just better than I was at times when it came to controlling our anger. Sam breathed deeply and finally pounced after another minute of uncomfortable silence, doing something I wasn't expecting for him to do. Sam kissed me deeply and grabbed both of my hands as I fought against him, and held them together as he planted them above my head. After grabbing my butt, I gasped, which allowed Sam entrance to my mouth. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as I finally returned the kiss, and nibbled on his bottom lip. Sam groaned and released my hands pulling back slightly to look at me though his half-lidded eyes._

 _"I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that. I was just a little worked up..." Sam muttered._

 _"I'm sorry too." I blurted out._

 _I grabbed Sam by the front of his shirt, pulling him in for another passionate kiss. Sam moaned appreciatively when I began to grind my hips against his._

 _"God, I love you." Sam nearly growled._

 _"Love you too." I panted._

 _I unbuckled Sam's pants and yanked them down as I gave him another deep kiss._

 **FLASH!**

After Nathan, Sam, and I stepped inside of the room, we all took a moment to relax and just catch our breath. Sully watched the three of us carefully as he smoked another cigar, and could obviously sense the tension in the air. He rolled his eyes and began muttering under his breath about how women complicate things. After I gave him a glare, Sully smiled sheepishly and pulled out a chair for me at the table to make up for it. I kept getting distracted because I could see Sam glancing over at me nearly every few seconds. I could tell that what I had failed to tell him before was really starting to bother him in a way that made it hard to focus on finding Avery's treasure. Sam finally got the Saint Dismas cross out of his pocket, and grabbed a hammer.

"Okay...well...I hope I don't go to hell for this." Sam joked.

Sam swung the hammer down on one of the ends of the cross and peered inside of it before frowning.

"Shit." He muttered.

Our smiles quickly faded away as we all stared at Sam in concern.

"What?" Nathan asked worriedly.

"It's empty." Sam blurted out.

" _What?!_ " Nathan nearly yelled.

Sam snickered and tipped over the cross, letting a roll of paper slip out of it.

"Ah, you're such an asshole!" Nathan sighed.

"He's _your_ brother." I grumbled.

We all gathered together more closely as we were looking down at the roll of paper.

"All right, skull and crossbones. Very good sign." Sully commented about the seal.

"That's Avery's insignia." I added.

Sam removed the seal carefully, unrolling the paper until it was flattened out on the table. The image was certainly interesting, and the dates listed were all too familiar to me.

"What is this?" Nathan muttered.

"Ah.. _.Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso._ " Sam read aloud.

"Today you will join me in Paradise." I translated.

"It's what Jesus said to Saint Dismas on the Cross, but..." Sam said.

"Right." Nathan nodded.

"But what about these numbers here? What do you make of this?" Sam asked.

"Some kind of code? Or a phone number?" Sullivan lightly joked.

"No...I recognize the numbers. They're both dates. Specifically dates that involve Avery. Such as his date of birth, and his date of death." I informed them.

"Yeah...Tara's right. Look. 1659, the year that Avery was born. And 1699..."

"Let me guess, the year he died?" Sully smirked.

"By most accounts, yes. Alright...well that means we have the date of birth, the date of death, and Paradise..." Sam mumbled. "Which means we're looking for Avery's grave."

"At St. Dismas' Cathedral." Nathan finished.

"Wait a second. Hasn't Rafe been scouring that site for ages already?" Sullivan asked.

"Yeah, the cathedral." I answered.

"Yeah, but do you see the symbols? Those are found on old Scottish _gravestones._ " Nathan pointed out.

I quickly caught onto what Nathan was going at, but let him continue for Sam and Sully's sake.

"Right, now look at this." Nathan smiled at me.

Nathan pulled out a map of the area around the cathedral before pointing out a specific area to me.

"The layout of this place is really unusual. Here's the cathedral, but the graveyard...is way over here." Nathan said.

"Rafe's been looking at the wrong area this entire time." I smiled faintly.

"Guys. We're going to Scotland." Sam smirked.

"All right, all right. Wait- -wait up." Sullivan stopped us. "You do realize that Rafe knows you're coming?"

"Yeah, we can deal with that when we get there." Nate shrugged.

"That psycho would like nothing better than for you to show up. Plus, he's got Nadine and her whole army to back him up!" Sully brought up.

"Yeah, but he doesn't have _this_." Nathan argued.

I bit my bottom lip as I tried to side with Nathan, but was also seeing Sullivan's point of view to be the more _logical_. I didn't know which side to choose. I mean, I could always go back home and be with Anne, but chances were...

 _Nathan and Sam would need my help. Nathan knew that too._

"The biggest treasure of all time is within our grasp." Nathan smiled excitedly.

"I thought this was about saving Sam." Sullivan said.

"It is!" Nathan argued. "But come on, it's both right?"

"Wait a minute, _excuse me?_ What's wrong with Sam?" I butted in.

Nathan winced again and gave me a sheepish smile. Before he could say anything, Sam cut off Nathan as he reached for my hand.

"Hey, I'll tell you everything. Just don't be mad at Nathan again, alright?" Sam sighed.

I grew angry once more, and withdrew my hand as I glared at all three of the men in front of me.

"You know what? If I can't trust _**any** _ of you, I'm certainly not going to work with you." I snapped.

I turned to look over at Nathan, giving him the most serious and threatening look I could muster to show him that I meant business this time.

"Nathan. This shit ends here. No more hiding things, you better tell me everything up front and I mean it. It's either that, or I'm going back home to be with the one person that truly matters to me." I said with finality.

"All right...okay...I'm sorry, I sort of forgot to tell you but..." Nathan blushed. "We need the treasure so we can save Sam." He confessed.

"Save Sam?" I asked in confusion. "Save him from what?"

"Well...it's probably better if he explains it." Nathan scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

I turned to glare at Sam suspiciously this time and moved forward until my face was inches from his. Sam's eyes widened slightly, almost looking like he was a child about to be reprimanded for something.

"Samuel Morgan Drake, what did you get yourself into this time?" I questioned him.

"Jesus Christ, you sound like my mother." Sam mumbled.

"Don't you fucking _dare_ take that tone with me since _I'm_ the one that's helping you two numb-skulls out here. What trouble are you in?" I lowered my voice threateningly.

"I uh...kind of neglected to tell you how I got out of prison..." Sam chuckled nervously.

Eventually, Sam had me sit down so he could give me a brief explanation for everything. Apparently, it was Hector Alcazar that had broken Sam out of prison just recently, and in repayment, wanted some of Avery's treasure from Sam when he finds it or else he'd be killed. I nearly keeled over in shock, not expecting Sam to owe a person like _Hector Alcazar._ Eventually, we all came to an understanding and I was able to relax a bit, but it didn't make things less tense between all of us.

"And just how is Elena cool with all of this?" Sully then questioned Nathan.

Nathan glanced away, a frown on his face as he let out a sigh.

"Look, it's just not that simple." Nathan shook his head.

"With all that you two have been through together- -" Sully started.

"She wouldn't understand this." Nathan cut him off.

"You know, Nathan. You really underestimate Elena sometimes." I cut in. "She is one of the most _understanding_ people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

"Tara's right, kid. You are not giving her enough credit." Sully agreed with me.

"I can't take that chance." Nathan argued.

"Nathan...they're right." Sam spoke up.

I stared at Sam in surprise, not actually expecting him to back us up on this instead of encouraging his younger brother.

"Things have changed. _Rafe's_ involved now and...I can...I can take this on my own. Really." Sam sighed.

Nathan didn't seem to care for what we all had to say, and stood up from his seat.

"Great. Well, thank you for your input. All of you...excuse me."

Nathan grabbed his cellphone, and went out onto the balcony to make a phone call, most likely to lie to Elena some more. I grew frustrated and started making my way over to the door.

"Where are you going?" Sully asked. "I know you're a little angry and worked up over everything and I understand that _completely_ but..."

"You know I have my own room here right?" I rolled my eyes.

"Oh...right..." Sully blushed.

"I appreciate you looking out for me Sullivan, but I'm a big tough girl...I can tie my own shoes and everything." I smiled faintly.

I froze after realizing I had nearly just quoted one of Anne's favorite Disney movies, which happened to be Hercules. Sam gave me a funny look but didn't get to say anything because I left to my room.

* * *

It might not have even been ten minutes before Sam snuck his way into my room and watched me struggle to take off my dress.

"You need a hand there?"

I felt my face heat up drastically, but nodded when I glanced over at Sam.

"Yeah...that would be nice, thanks." I muttered.

Sam came over, his hand working the zipper on my back as I held up my hair for him to get better access.

"You sound a little mad...you wanna talk about it?" Sam offered.

"I'm a hypocrite. I can't even judge Nathan about lying to Elena...I'm doing the same thing..."

"You are? To who?"

Sam sounded a little worried, and for a moment, I could sense a little bit of anger from him.

"I mean...I didn't expect you to wait for me, especially after fifteen years but..." Sam barely whispered.

 _Wait...did he think I was married or something?_

Sam finally managed to pull down the zipper, staring at my exposed back as he gently caressed my skin, moving his hands to my shoulders. I gasped and turned around to face him as I held up my dress from the front.

"Sam...I'm not with anyone." I told him. "I've been alone mostly, had a few boyfriends here and there, but nothing serious...nothing like what you and I had."

"Really? What was that about _leaving to go back to someone that truly mattered to you_ earlier when you were threatening Nathan to come clean?" Sam questioned.

 _I meant Anne, not that Sam had any idea about her..._

"Are you jealous?" I raised an eyebrow.

"What? _No!_ " Sam scoffed as he lied miserably.

"Sam, _really_...I'm not together with anyone. I can promise you that." I mumbled softly.

Sam finally relaxed, knowing that I was telling him the truth.

"So who were you talking about then? There's somethin' you haven't been telling me...I could tell this is the same thing you wanted to tell me earlier at the auction too." Sam sighed.

"Sam...I'm _afraid_...I'm afraid that if I tell you the truth- -" I grew nervous.

"I ain't leaving you again. If that's what this is about, you can stop being scared." Sam smiled warmly.

Sam grabbed one of my hands and pressed a kiss to it.

"Tara...you can tell me."

I stared into Sam's eyes and finally cracked a smile, especially from Sam's sincerity.

 _I can do this...I can tell him._

"Do you remember the night we spent together before you left for Panama with your brother and Rafe since you guys refused to let me come with you?" I asked.

"Of course I do. How the hell could I forget a fun night like that?" Sam wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I let out a small laugh and squeezed Sam's hand as I mustered up the courage to continue.

"Well...it wasn't long after but...it might have been a few weeks before I started noticing how sick I was at the time. It was actually after Sullivan visited our home one day that he made me realize something. We went out to get lunch together, and when we got back home, I got sick again and- -"

"Shit, you were sick? Was it serious?" Sam looked worried.

I put my finger on his lips, preventing him from talking because I was so desperate to finally tell him the truth.

"After I basically threw up my lunch, Sullivan made a small comment, about how I was _as sick as a god damn pregnant woman._ " I tried to mimic Sully.

Sam let out a small chuckle at that and nodded as an indicator that he was listening intently.

 _"_ I thought it was hilarious at the time but then I started to see the signs. I went to that pharmacy near the house, got a kit, and...found out I was pregnant." I finished.

I pulled away from Sam, trying to see his reaction to the news. He was silent for over five minutes and I could tell he was trying to process what I'd just told him. To say he was shocked into silence was an understatement. Finally, his eyes widened drastically and he gave me a small smile.

"Wait...you're saying you were pregnant? With **our** kid?" He let out a tearful laugh.

I merely nodded and gave him a warm smile, feeling incredibly happy that he was actually taking this so well. I went over to my suit case, coming back with my wallet, and pulled out an old photo of the day that Anne was born that I always carried with me. Nathan was in the picture with me, holding Anne almost protectively as the both of us smiled at the camera that Sully brought with him that day. I handed over the photo to Sam, watching in amusement as Sam's face lit up.

"It was a really good day. I never saw Nathan look so excited and happy since we both thought you had died. She was a blessing that's for sure." I mentioned.

" _She?_ " Sam grinned.

"Yup. Her name is Anne Bonny Drake." I informed him.

"Anne Bonny- -you mean like the pirate Anne Bonny?" Sam asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I wanted her name to mean something. I really thought that I should dedicate her name to you in some way. Since you loved pirates so much, I decided to name her after the most bad-ass female pirate to exist." I confessed.

"Anne Bonny Drake. It has a _really_ nice ring to it." Sam mumbled softly.

Sam stared down at the picture and ran his hand over it, looking happier than I had ever seen him before. I felt incredibly happy as well, and not just because it was good to finally tell Sam the truth about Anne, but because of how _excited_ Sam was over a child and it made me realize that I was scared of nothing this entire time.

 _Maybe everything will work out just fine._

"She's so beautiful. It's hard to believe I helped in creating something so precious, you know?" Sam said.

I was shaken out of my thoughts from Sam's heartwarming words and let loose a few tears I had been holding back. Sam put the picture down on a table nearby before quickly coming over to me.

"What are you crying for, doll-face?" Sam laughed.

"I'm just **so** happy." I admitted.

I tackled Sam into a hug, feeling him return the embrace wholeheartedly.

"So how old is she?"

"Fifteen, you goober." I mumbled into his shoulder.

"Right..." He sighed. "Shit...I can't believe I missed out on so much. I had a kid all this time..."

"Hey. You can meet her face to face when this is all over." I said.

"I would love to...but...what if I'm a horrible dad? What if she hates me? **_I_ ** would hate me."

"Don't even say that. You're nothing like your old man. If anything, you'd be a kick-ass father. Anne would love you." I argued.

" _Really?_ " Sam muttered.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, Sam." I assured him. "Anne is so much like you, more than you'll ever know. It made me miss you so much more over the years. She certainly gained your sense of adventure that's for sure."

I pulled away once more before walking over to the bathroom, seeing a confused look on Sam's face. I finally let go of the dress, and let it fall down my body. I turned my head over towards Sam, giving him a wink as I let him stare at my naked backside.

"Now, are you going to mope around, or would you like to join me in the shower?" I smirked.

Sam finally snapped out of his little moment of depression, before he smiled seductively in a way that made me weak in the knees.

"We've got a _very_ long night ahead of us once we get started here. You sure you don't wanna back out now?" Sam joked.

I cocked my hip to the side and put my hand on my waist as I continued to stare at Sam lustfully from the corner of my eye.

"Don't make me wait. We've got so much to catch up on. I remember you saying you've got a lot of _love_ to give." I nearly purred.

"Yes ma'am. 15 years worth of it." Sam bit his bottom lip.

I laughed as Sam chased me into the bathroom.

* * *

The morning after, Nathan came over to my room to make sure I was ready to go, and blushed deeply when he stumbled in to see a shirtless Sam kissing my neck with his arms around my waist as I was finished packing.

"Well shit..." Nathan muttered.

Sam nearly jumped in surprise and smiled sheepishly at his brother like he was caught stealing a cookie red-handed.

"Uh...hey, little brother." Sam greeted awkwardly.

"I knew you worked fast Sam, but this is ridiculous." Nathan chuckled.

"I have my ways." Sam smirked.

I hit Sam in the arm from the comment, shaking my head as I let out a small laugh.

"So uh, does he know about...you-know-who?" Nathan looked at me worriedly.

"If you're talking about my fifteen year old daughter I've never known about until now? Then yes, I know." Sam cut me off.

"Hey, don't be a dick. It's not my fault you were stuck in a prison in Panama. How the hell would I have told you about her?" I rolled my eyes.

Sam pouted and looked like he wanted to say something, but Nathan beat him to it.

"She's not wrong, Sam." Nathan shrugged. "But listen, this was no one's fault okay? I'm just glad that you two are working things out."

Sam and I both smiled at this and glanced at each other.

"Yeah...you're right." Sam said.

I tossed Sam his shirt after zipping up my luggage, all ready to go.

"Hey Nathan. Listen...uh...I want to thank you." Sam spoke up again.

"Thank me?" Nathan chuckled.

"For bein' there for Tara and Anne when I wasn't. From what Tara's told me, you're a pretty cool uncle. And a total softy towards kids." Sam smirked.

"Oh yeah? What else did Tara tell you?" Nathan raised an eyebrow at me.

"Well she might have mentioned a certain incident involving a lego set, a toy gun, and baking a cake. I nearly had tears in my eyes from that one." Sam bit his bottom lip to stifle his laughter.

"Is that so? Well did she tell you about that one time Anne found- -"

"And that's enough from you!" I snapped.

"But now I'm curious!" Sam pouted.

"Nathan, we agreed to **never** bring that up again. Ever. Get your ass out of here, we're going to Scotland." I told him.

Nathan smirked and mock saluted me as we started walking out of the room.

"Yes, ma'am!" Nathan laughed.

"So that's it then? I'm just left with no answers?" Sam asked.

"Let's go, Sam." I merely replied.

* * *

Soon enough, we made it into Scotland in Sully's plane feeling more determined than ever before to find Avery's treasure. I kept having mixed feelings about the treasure, thinking it wasn't even in Scotland to begin with, but also wondered why this clue would lead us here in the first place?

 _What were Avery's real intentions with this clue to Scotland?_

I shook my head about the theory I had, thinking that I was reading too much into it. I followed Sam and Nathan, putting my hands on my hips as Nathan glanced down at his little map.

"Well, Rafe's going all in, isn't he?" Sam asked.

"Well they're all concentrated on the cathedral, so that's good." Nathan replied. "Because we are gonna have that graveyard all to ourselves."

I grabbed my walkie-talkie as I got in touch with Sullivan.

"Sully." I spoke up.

" ** _Yeah?_** "

"Hey, listen, we're all good to go here." I told him.

" ** _Okay, kid. Happy hunting._** " He responded.

"Last chance to come with." I smiled.

" _ **Yeah, well, unless you can find me an escalator, I think I'll pass.**_ "

"All right. We'll see you in a few." I waved down to him.

" _ **Hey, Tara.**_ "

"Yeah?"

" ** _I just...ah...just bring me back something shiny will yah?_** "

"That's the plan." I replied.

I put away the walkie-talkie, and turned over to Sam and Nathan, both of which looked ready to go.

"Well, let's go pay our respects to Captain Avery, huh?" Sam smirked.

I followed Sam, jogging behind him as we all hopped down rock from rock and hill from hill.

"A Scottish cathedral. Strange place to bury your treasure, no?" Sam mentioned.

"Not really, I mean, by the time Avery would've sailed here, the place was already abandoned." Nathan said.

"I don't really think the treasure is even here to begin with." I guessed.

"What the hell makes you say that, doll?" Sam asked. "I'm trying to be optimistic over here."

"I'm not trying to be a downer but...it's just a theory I have on all of this. The graveyard was actually the first place I wanted to look, but Rafe never listened to anything _I_ had to say." I responded.

"It's good to have an open mind. Let's just hope for the best." Nathan told me.

"So uh, what happened with you guys and Rafe?" Sam asked cautiously.

"Well, he was an asshole and it wasn't long after that I found out I was pregnant with Anne and uh...Nathan and I couldn't really deal with him. The feeling was mutual from Rafe." I said.

"Yeah, we were still coming to grips with your _death_ , and with his frustrations from not finding the treasure. I'm pretty sure he was ready to kill me by the time I bailed. I didn't want Tara being left alone with him so I made her come with me. Not that I had to force her, she'd had just about enough with Rafe too."

"Ha, imagine what he'd want to do with you guys now." Sam muttered.

"Yeah, trying not to." I chuckled.

"Sam, listen. He's ruthless. I mean, even more so than when we teamed up with him." Nathan assured him. "I mean, I've heard stories."

"He's become more unhinged that's for sure...and all because he's desperate to make a name for himself." I mumbled.

"Trust me, me too. All the more reason I don't feel bad about any of this." Sam told us.

Soon enough, we make our way down noticing crates and other equipment set up along the way.

"What the hell is all this?" Nathan muttered quietly.

"It's excavation equipment." Sam answered.

"Shoreline?" Nathan said in surprise.

"What?"

"Look." Nathan pointed at the crate. "I thought they were just by the cathedral."

"Damn. I guess Rafe isn't as dumb as I took him for...maybe he's finally taken my advice to look around here." I folded my arms.

Sam's eyes widened before he quickly pulled me down with Nathan, taking cover behind the boxes and crates as some mercenaries from Shoreline were shooting at us.

"Holy shit. I didn't even notice them. Thanks." I breathed out.

"Not a problem, doll-face. Let's take these guys out before shit goes south, huh?" Sam smiled.

I nodded and grabbed my gun from its holster, peeking up slowly and taking aim for one of the mercenaries. I breathed in and pulled the trigger, feeling a little triumphant that I got a head-shot. Nathan and Sam glanced over at me in surprise before going back to shooting the other men surrounding us.

"Okay, we're good." Nathan said.

I got up from my crouching position and followed the Drake brothers, smiling as I saw them walk together side by side.

 _It reminded me of the good old days._

 **FLASH!**

 _Nathan ran around excitedly as we passed around a football, going all out and having a great time. It was originally Nathan's idea to come to the park and it was something Sam I didn't seem to regret because we were all happy to be together. It was about the third time this month we snuck Nathan out of the orphanage to spend some time with him. We had several close calls with the nuns, but we all managed to get by them somehow. I laughed as Nathan passed the ball over to me and Sam got in front of me to block my path._

 _"Where do you think you're going with that ball, sweetheart?" Sam smirked._

 _I blushed and gave Sam a small glare._

 _"Stop calling me that." I pouted._

 _"What? Sweetheart? Why? Does it bother you?" He teased._

 _"As a matter of fact, it does!" I sighed._

 _"Tara! Pass it over! I'm open!" Nathan yelled from a distance._

 _Sam got into a defensive stance, ready to stop me from getting by him._

 _"Alright. Heads up, Nate!" I shouted._

 _I threw the ball as Sam tackled me, laughing at the fact that Sam nearly yelped when we fell to the ground together. Sam ignored my laughter and straddled my waist, giving me a playful glare as he pinned my arms down._

 _"Do you surrender, Miss Walker?" Sam pursed his lips._

 _"Do I surrender? Hell no!" I stuck my tongue out._

 _"And you swear? Wow, what a bad girl." He chuckled._

 _"Oh shut up, Morgan. You do it as much as I do." I rolled my eyes._

 _"Oh what was that? You want me to tickle you?" Sam grinned._

 _"Sam no!" I giggled._

 _"Sam yes!" He tried to mimic me._

 _Nathan laughed as he came over to us, watching Sam tickle torture the bejeezles out of me in amusement before sitting down with us. Sam finally stopped and got off of me before wrapping an arm around my shoulders, planting a kiss to my temple affectionately._

 _"You guys are gross sometimes." Nathan gave us a look of disgust._

 _"Why? Because I kiss her?" Sam laughed._

 _"Yeah. Kissing stuff is weird..." Nathan muttered._

 _"You won't be saying that when you finally score with a girl." Sam winked at him._

 _"Yeah right. I ain't getting no girlfriend." Nathan shook his head._

 _"I believe you Nathan." I chuckled._

 _"Shut up and go suck each other's faces already." He grumbled._

 _"Gladly." Sam said quickly._

 _Before I could say anything, Sam turned my head, giving me a deep kiss that lasted a good ten seconds before he pulled away, leaving me breathless. I playfully punched Sam's arm, giving him a pointed look for being so inappropriate around his younger brother._

 _"Bleh. See Nathan? You don't want a girlfriend anyway." I pretended to gag._

 _"The hell are you telling him that for?" Sam laughed._

 _"Because Nathan is my precious baby and I won't let him grow up." I pouted._

 _I hugged Nathan, hearing him chuckle at me from my motherly behavior._

 **FLASH!**

"Tara!"

I snapped out of my daze, seeing Nathan waving his hand in front of me. Nathan chuckled as he gave me a look of amusement.

"I thought we lost you there. What were you thinking about?" Nathan asked.

"It's nothing important." I blushed.

Nathan gave me a stick of dynamite, clearly enjoying the look of surprise on my face.

"Thought you'd like to blow some shit up with me." Nathan smirked. "Care to blow up that door for me?"

"Not a problem." I grinned.

I grabbed a match on a crate nearby, lighting the end of it with my boot and tossed the dynamite over after lighting the fuse.

 **BOOM!**

"Man, you're pretty good with that stuff." Sam commented.

"Well, we've blown a lot of shit up over the years. I kind of missed it actually." I sighed happily.

"Oh? That's a little concerning." Sam chuckled.

"I almost wanted to become one of those demolition people that tore down houses. But Nathan wouldn't let me." I pouted.

"Because you had a three year old kid at the time and you needed a more stable job!" Nathan argued.

Nathan started moving a box with wheels as I walked alongside him.

"Yeah...well...not anymore." I sighed.

"What?" Nathan stopped what he was doing. "What are you talking about?"

"The night you showed up at my place. I was fired that day." I confessed.

"What?! Why?!" Nathan nearly shouted.

"My boss uh...he threatened to fire me if I didn't sleep with him. I might have beat the living snot out of him in response to that little offer of his. He was too scared to press charges, but I'm out of a job now. It was kinda convenient when you showed up and told me we were going after Avery's treasure again. _Especially_ now, considering I could use the money. Hell, maybe I can go into early retirement after this." I smiled at the thought. "Anne could go to a nice college too."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Nathan sighed.

"You don't have any right to be criticizing **me** about keeping secrets." I gave him a knowing look.

"...very true. And I apologize for that." Nathan frowned.

Nathan stopped pushing the box in front of him, shoving me into the tall grass over by my right. I nearly got up and would have started to beat the shit out of Nathan, had I not heard more Shoreline soldiers coming our way. I managed to get into a crouching position, quietly reloading my gun as the mercenaries began to spread out around the area. I grabbed a stick of dynamite that was on the ground nearby, and put it in my pocket.

 _Time to kill some bitches._

* * *

It took a lot of time, and by that I mean it took a lot of walking, climbing, and more sneak attacks on Shoreline, before we had made it to the graveyard. There were **a lot** of tombstones to go through with such little time to spare before Rafe caught wind that we were here on the site as well.

"Jesus. Look at this place." Sam smiled.

"Welcome to the Saint Dismas dormitory." Nathan spoke up. "Alleged final resting place of one Henry Avery."

"Let's find that grave." Sam chuckled.

I kept walking ahead, ignoring Nathan and Sam conversing with one another as they both continued their search for the right gravestone. There were many lookalikes, so it was understandable to get some of them confused. It was the small details that one needed to be on the lookout for. For some reason, even after fifteen years, I was able to remember _everything_ that involved Henry Avery, because I was so involved with finding his treasure along with Sam and Nathan, and also because my parents (before they died) were historians. My parents dribbled in a little bit of every subject, but my favorite thing to learn about from my parents were famous pirates, one of which happened to be Captain Avery. I was always eager to learn about _everything_ that involved history because it was always so fascinating to me to learn about a different time period and a different culture. Anne always did great in her history classes because Nathan and I were eager to teach her and we had _many_ stories to tell. My eyes scanned over every piece of sculpted stone in sight, looking for the crossed cutlasses, skull and crossbones, and the years of Avery's birth and death. When I was invested or deeply involved in something, it was sometimes hard to pull me away and snap me back into reality.

 _Skull and cross bones...cutlasses, Avery's dates..._

I continued walking, chanting those very words in my head as I continued my search. After another minute, I finally came to a stop as I stood in front of a tombstone that seemed to match the description. I wiped away snow, making out the years of Avery's birth and death as a smile spread on my face.

 **Benjamin Bridgeman**

 _That's Avery's alias, that much I'm certain of..._

"Sam! Nathan! Over here!" I called out to them.

I looked at the grave in fascination and touched the skull merely from curiosity.

 _That's not Avery's sigil though...it should be sideways...right?_

I slowly turned the skull over to the right, flinching when I heard and felt something rumbling underneath my feet.

 _Please don't be a trap._

"Oh my God." Sam breathed out.

I looked behind the tombstone, noticing there were stairs that led underground.

"Holy shit! Good job, Tara!" Nathan clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"When it comes to my history, I know Avery." I grinned.

"That you do, my lovely friend." Nathan laughed.

"So, you guys ready for this?" I asked.

"Sweetheart, I've been ready for a long time." Sam muttered.

Sam grabbed my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as we both walked down together.

"Let's see what we got." Nathan mumbled to himself.

We followed Nathan down the stairs, looking around in surprise.

"A crypt?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Behind a secret door? A little strange don't you think?"

"I assume the secret door was added afterwards." Nathan pointed out.

"To hide his loot." Sam guessed.

"Somehow, I doubt it will be that easy." I sighed.

"What? You still don't think the treasure's gonna be here?" Sam asked.

"If I know Avery worth a damn, it's that he **never** made anything easy or simple. My guess is that there will be another clue that leads to his treasure." I concluded.

"...you might be onto something." Nathan muttered. "I'm still hoping that you're wrong though."

"Hey, don't get me wrong, the sooner we find the treasure, the sooner we can save Sam's ass, but...I don't know. I just don't think the treasure would be at _this_ location, it's too obvious, you know? Not to mention cliche. Finding his treasure at his fake grave? It's way too simple- -" I rambled.

I glanced over at Sam and paused, blushing when I realized that he'd been staring at me this entire time.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"No...it's really cute...I always loved it when you went on your rants about theories you had." Sam confessed.

I bit my bottom lip, feeling embarrassed at how true that statement was when I thought about it. I knew I always kept an open mind about everything, but I didn't think I went on rants...

 _At least not until Sam pointed it out..._

"You'd always have this little twinkle in your eye, your face would light up like a Christmas tree as you got excited..." Sam continued with a smile.

"Aw, Sam. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to flatter her. What did you do?" Nathan joked.

"Oh shut it, knucklehead." Sam blushed.

"...I remember how passionate you were about anything involving pirates." I finally spoke up. "You loved the history as much as I did. It made me feel less insecure...like I wasn't alone."

Sam stopped moving, causing me to stop with him as Nathan went ahead.

"You know...I always thought about you every single day..." He mumbled softly.

Sam reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I was always afraid you'd forget about me and move on." Sam admitted.

"Believe me...I tried." I smiled weakly. "I could never go through a relationship with anyone else, at least nothing serious...and Anne...she always reminded me of you. It might have been at least eight years before the pain began to subside a bit. But it never really went away. I think Anne knew that too..."

"I'm sorry- -" He started.

"Don't be sorry. I don't want you to **ever** be sorry, Sam. You had no control over it. I know you would have returned to me, to _us_. I'm just relieved that you're still alive to begin with." I gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

I was surprised from Sam's gentleness when he reached over, giving me a soft and tentative kiss that held so many emotions. It made me think at first that Sam was so out of character, or that something was _really_ eating away at him. I couldn't tell if he felt extremely guilty of being away from Anne and I for fifteen years, or if it was from something else entirely, but either way, it made me genuinely concerned for Sam.

"I love you...so much." Sam placed his forehead against mine. "You're too good to me sometimes, and I don't deserve it."

From then on, we walked together in silence, moving quickly to catch up with Nathan.

* * *

 _Hey guys! I'm so happy from all the very kind reviews of encouragement that I received! I just want you to know, this took FOREVER to write, or it felt like forever to write. Anyway, let's just say, I'm finally finished with this chapter and it's 2:00 in the fucking morning. I'm going to change this rating to M, because I'm actually considering writing a little sex scene for Tara and Sam, I have little mentions in this chapter of sex, but...I've never actually written a sex scene before, I've read so many fanfics with so much smut, but I've never created any sort of smut fanfics myself. One, because I've never had sex before, I'm just waiting for the right guy (I'm not waiting until I get married and stuff, but I don't want a fling or anything if you catch my drift. Not that this is really relevant to begin with...sorry), and two, I don't want to mess this up somehow and have people roll their eyes as they look at the very possible mediocre sex scene I could most likely write. I just want to build it up and have it be a little more natural when it happens, I don't want this to just happen out of nowhere, you know what I mean? I'm sorry if I'm ranting over a stupid fucking sex scene, I just kind of get a little anxious about writing things I've never really had experience with writing about and have avoided writing any smut. But I do want to try new things, so just please bear with me! I know some of you want smut! Don't lie! I'm going to change the rating to M, but there won't be a full blown written sex scene until later. Not like a lot later until some of you might be at your tipping point and explode from anticipation. I hate stories that do that sometimes. All I want is for the timing to be absolutely perfect and not be random. I'm very sorry for this long rant at the end here, I just...I have a lot to say sometimes. I want to be cautious about this. Thanks for being awesome and let me know what you think! :D_

 _-bellas2silly_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey guys! Here's another chapter! I hope you like it! Also, there **are** mentions of rape in this chapter, so just a warning for you if you're sensitive to anything like that._

* * *

 **FLASH!**

 _I limped forward, my entire body shaking as I slowly raised my hand to knock on the door. I heard laughter and shuffling from the other side of the door, and soon enough I saw a bright smiling Nathan Drake._

 _"God damn it, Sully! It was one time!" Nathan chuckled._

 _Nathan turned to look at me, his smile fading almost instantaneously as he stared at me with wide eyes._

 _"Holy shit! Tara!" Nathan shouted worriedly._

 _I felt my legs wobbling, my eyes nearly rolling into the back of my head as Nathan quickly caught me._

 _"Shit! Sully! Get that medical kit! Now!"_

 _"What in the hell?!"_

 _"Hurry!"_

 _"On it, kid!"_

 _I felt a light tapping on my cheek and opened my eyes to find Nathan looking down at me, fear etched onto his expression._

 _"Tara! You've gotta stay awake for me okay? Tell me what happened! Who did this to you?!" Nathan questioned._

 _"M'fine..." I slurred._

 _"Jesus Christ..." Sully muttered._

 _It might have been several minutes later when I was more conscious, aware of my surroundings. It made me realize that even in my dazed state, I'd always go to Nathan, it was like an instinct I guess. I wasn't sure how long I had been with Nathan and Sully, considering my vision had been fading in and out nonstop since I had arrived to them in my current condition._

 _"She's awake." Sully called out to Nathan._

 _Nathan was at my side in an instant, gripping my hand so tightly that I winced. I felt terrible that I had scared Nathan and Sullivan like this, feeling immense guilt that made my stomach feel like it was thrashing around inside of my body._

 _"Hey. How long was I out for?" I mumbled tiredly._

 _"A couple of hours." Sully answered. "You've got a lot of bruises, darlin'. You lost quite a bit of blood too, so take it easy."_

 _I sat up in the bed, letting out a small groan as I stretched. The first minute of pure silence was almost concerning, especially when Nathan and Sully's expressions spoke volumes of how angry yet concerned they were. I could tell they wanted answers, but I didn't really have any for them. It was random, out of nowhere, and I didn't even know my attackers. I had just been unlucky tonight, and outnumbered when I was jumped. The rest seemed like a blur, but I got the gist that I was mugged and beaten when I regained consciousness._

 _"Tara. Tell me who did this to you. You had us scared to death. I had half a mind to call Sam, but I knew he'd be worse than I am right now." Nathan spoke up._

 _"I don't know...I don't even know what happened." I barely whispered._

 _"What do you mean you don't know?" Sully blurted out._

 _"...I think I was mugged. I can't...I don't know..." My voice cracked. "Just...don't call Sam...don't..."_

 _"Well considering he's your boyfriend- -" Sullivan started._

 _"He's not...not anymore. I don't want him to worry over nothin'..." I cut him off._

 _I held my head, feeling a headache beginning to form and shut my eyes for a brief minute._

 _"What the hell are you talking about? When did you guys break up?" Nathan looked at me in disbelief._

 _"Two weeks ago. We got into a fight...it was so stupid..." I smiled faintly. "It was such a stupid fight...but it made me leave."_

 _"You two always were on and off." Nate mumbled quietly._

 _"So Sam doesn't even know you're out here?" Sully sighed._

 _"Nope." I chuckled._

 _"How did you know where to find us anyway? This motel room isn't exactly our home address..." Nathan muttered._

 _"You guys...don't give me enough credit. I...I knew you were here. I keep tabs on you Nathan." I replied._

 _"Somehow that doesn't surprise me..." Nate smiled._

 _"So you don't know who mugged you?" Sully asked._

 _I held my breath when I saw blood stains along my inner thighs and started to remember some of the horrible things that occurred just moments earlier._

 _"Fuck..." I cried out in pain._

 _"Tara?" Nathan put his hand on my shoulder._

 _Nathan followed my gaze, his eyes widening slightly when he saw the dried up blood in between my thighs._

 _"I think I was raped..." I let out a whimper._

 _"Call Sam. Right now. We need to find whoever did this." Nathan growled._

 _"Already on it." Sully muttered._

 _"No...don't...please." I cried softly. "It might be a false alarm..."_

 **FLASH!**

I snapped out of my daze, tears prickling in my eyes from that specific memory. It was about two months before Sam and Nathan had officially met Rafe after being on Avery's trail again. I made Nathan and Sullivan promise not to tell Sam of the incident, but that didn't stop Nathan from finding the men who had assaulted me. I never knew what happened to them, but from that look on Nathan's face whenever I would ask, I could tell it was anything but good. I remembered how awful it was when Sam eventually found out the truth, he gave me that look of sympathy and guilt, even pity, and it infuriated me. I was paranoid for a while after the incident happened, and would often stay isolated in my apartment at the time, but Nathan and Sam wouldn't let me be because they knew how I was whenever I had been alone with my thoughts. Even Sullivan had been sure to keep a closer eye on me after that. Sam and I made up after that, mostly because we didn't want to part the way we had, and eventually we got back together.

 _I hadn't thought about that in years...so why now?_

I couldn't help but think that maybe being around Sam was bringing back all of these memories of my past, or if these memories were trying to warn me about something or _what_ that something would be for that matter. Either way, I was now confused and feeling extremely depressed.

"Yo, Smokey! Need your lighter over here!" Nathan called out.

"You know, that hurts my feelings." Sam muttered.

"Not as much as it hurts your lungs." Nathan retorted.

"Thank you, Father Duffy." Sam scoffed.

Sam reached on his tip-toes to light up the oil lamp with his lighter, smiling when all three of the statues were lighting up inside.

"The light's coming from the other side of the wall." Sam noticed.

Nathan grabbed my hand and gave me a small smile as he began pulling me along with him to the other side. It wasn't hard to figure out that we had to aim the lights along certain areas of that huge door, so we quickly got to work at solving it together. Soon enough, we got the wall opened after solving this small puzzle, figuring out that we'd needed to head towards the cathedral to our next clue of Avery's.

 _Which meant going near Rafe._

"Well this is fantastic. As if Rafe being near us wasn't enough, now we have to go _towards_ him- -" I grew frustrated.

"I know the risk." Nathan sighed.

"Nathan...I just...what if we get caught by Rafe and Nadine?" I blurted out.

"We won't." Sam cut in. "I understand your concern, doll-face, but Nathan's told me enough about all your crazy-ass adventures to know that you're both smart and resourceful. We won't get caught."

"We've been in tighter spots. If we're just more careful around Nadine's men, we should get out just fine. It's just like that little saying you and Anne would always bring up whenever we would play hide-and-seek together. _Let's go into..._ " Nathan said.

"Stealth mode." I finished.

"Yeah. See? We got this. It's not like we're rookies or anything when it comes to this stuff." Nathan assured me.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm getting so nervous. I just have a bad feeling right now." I admitted.

"Well put those feelings to the side. As long as the three of us are working together, nobody can take us down." Sam smiled smugly.

"Hopefully..." I muttered.

"What's with all the doom and gloom, sweetheart? Everything alright?" Sam's smile faltered.

"I'm just...I'll be fine. I'm sorry." I blushed.

"No...it's better to get it off your chest now." Sam said.

"I was just...I was recalling some memories. Really bad ones. You remember that one fight we had? It was so stupid..." I smiled faintly.

Sam and Nathan perked up almost instantly, knowing exactly what I was talking about, before Sam reached for my hand.

"Yeah...I remember." He mumbled softly. "What made you think about that?"

"I don't know. Just...let's never fight like that again..." I said.

"Even if the make-up sex is good?" Sam joked lightly.

I let out a small laugh as Sam tucked my bangs behind my ears and kissed my forehead.

"There's that smile." He winked. "Now let's get goin' alright? We've got work to do, my lovely lady."

"You're such a dork." I giggled. "But okay. Let's go."

Soon enough, we exited the hidden area underneath Avery's fake grave, only to find more Shoreline mercenaries arriving nearby. We moved quickly, trying to sneak our way past them as quietly as we could.

* * *

You ever get that feeling that maybe you're so unlucky that it's basically considered a curse at this point?

 _I feel like that right now. I'm fucking sick of getting shot at._

"KEEP MOVING!" Nathan yelled frantically.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?! TAKING A STROLL IN THE PARK OR SOMETHING?!" I shouted.

"Stop arguing and shoot, sweetheart!" Sam told me.

I hid behind another boulder, catching my breath as I practically felt my heart pounding in my chest. I reloaded my gun and turned over around the boulder, shooting at the enemy from afar. I jumped when I felt my cellphone vibrating in my pocket, and shot at some more of Nadine's men before pulling it out of my pocket to check the caller ID to find that it was my daughter calling.

 _Ah shit._

I hesitantly answered the call, pulling it up to my ear as I hid behind the boulder I was currently using to take cover.

"Yello?" I answered cheerfully.

" _Hey madre! How's the trip going?_ " Anne spoke up.

"Oh you know, it's not really all that fun! It's actually pretty annoying!" I replied.

My eyes widened as I saw one of Nadine's men running towards me and quickly aimed my gun, shooting him in the head instantly before he fell at my feet.

" _Holy shit! What was that noise?! It sounded like a gunshot!_ " Anne shouted worriedly.

"ARE YOU ON THE PHONE?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TO AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!" Nathan yelled at me from a distance.

"OH SHUT UP!" I snapped.

" _Mom?!_ "

"Sorry sweetie! I was just yelling at this asshole who threw a beer bottle into the street! He made me pop my tire while I was driving!" I lied quickly.

" _Really? What the hell is wrong with people today? That's just rude._ " Anne said.

"I know right?" I laughed nervously.

I got out from my cover, and used the end of my gun to knock out the last mercenary in sight.

"So how is everything? You having fun with your aunt?" I breathed out.

" _Yeah, well- -wait...are you okay? You sound like you're out of breath._ "

"I'm fine, Anna-banana. Tell me about your day." I chuckled.

" _Well Uncle Nathan left for some job in Malaysia, so I've been spending time with Aunt Elena. I'm actually kinda worried about her...she seems a little anxious. There's something she's not telling me._ " Anne lowered her voice.

I checked bodies for ammo, grabbing whatever resources I could as I walked and conversed with Anne on the phone.

" _Speaking of which, you were hiding something the night you left. You said you'd talk to me about it, so spill the beans. What happened?_ " Anne asked.

"Well the reason I'm on this sudden trip right now is because I was fired that night..." I confessed. "I didn't wanna worry you about it. You're already dealing with a lot at school, and I didn't wanna make it worse by nagging about it."

" _I'm sorry ma..._ " Anne muttered sadly.

"Hey, it's fine, honey. If all goes well over here, I won't even need to worry about a job for a long time because we'll be set for life." I smirked.

" _Holy crap, really? What kind of job is it? You've got me curious. You're not a drug dealer by any chance are you?_ " Anne giggled.

"Well if I make it back in one piece maybe I'll tell you." I said jokingly.

 _If I actually make it back alive, I'm telling Anne everything. Especially the bit about her father being alive._

" _Well in that case, I really hope you make it back in one piece!_ " Anne laughed. " _I'll text you later ma. Aunt Elena and I have a date with the PlayStation._ "

"Have fun, Annie." I smiled.

" _Bye ma!_ "

I hung up the phone, my smile faltering as I put my phone back into my pocket.

"Who the hell were you talking to?" Sam asked.

"Anne called so...yeah..." I sighed.

"Oh! How is she?" Sam smiled at the mention of his daughter.

"She sounds a little disappointed that her uncle wasn't there with Elena, but she's having fun."

"You sound a little worried, everything alright?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm gonna have to tell her about all of this shit. I can't keep lying to her. Especially since you're alive and in the picture now." I told him.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I've raised her pretty good...with some help of course but...I think she's ready to know. She's old enough to understand." I said confidently.

Sam clapped a hand on my shoulder and gave me a comforting smile as I let out a shaky breath I hadn't realized I was holding in.

"I know this is gonna sound a little weird but I'm proud of you. You make a good mom." Sam said.

"I really tried my best...I wasn't the greatest mother, but I've tried to give her a good life and support her as best as I could. It's all anyone can do right?" I blinked away tears. "I just hope she won't be mad at me for keeping this from her."

"It's like you said, she's old enough to understand. She sounds like a great kid, Tara. Don't underestimate her. She'll come around..."

"Thanks, Sam." I mumbled softly.

"Don't mention it, sweetheart."

* * *

The tension with avoiding Rafe and searching for the treasure was building up at a rapid pace. Avoiding Nadine's men had proved to be extremely stressful and tiring as a treasure hunter would expect from a group of mercenaries.

 _At times like this, I wish I would've become a historian or something like my parents._

My only motivation at this point was saving Sam, for my sake and for Anne's as well. Anne deserved to know her father, if she wanted to of course, and Sam deserved to live a better and carefree life after spending fifteen years in a Panama prison. I could only hope that the treasure was nearby, but knowing our luck, it would never be that easy. Plus, from what I knew about Captain Avery, he was a paranoid son of a bitch and a greedy one at that. Finding his treasure here would be almost too easy, and easy was not apart of that pirate legend's vocabulary before he passed I'm sure. I couldn't deny that I loved the hunt, that solving all of these puzzles and unraveling mysteries was what made this all partly worth it. I snapped out of it as I continued climbing with Sam and Nathan along a rock ledge, all of us pausing when we all heard muffled voices nearby. Sam put his finger on his lips as a gesture to be as quiet as we could, making our way to the voices nearby. We found a small crack along the rocky wall nearby, noticing that it was Rafe and Nadine arguing. It made me realize that we had to be underneath the Cathedral, exactly where our enemies were at. Instantly, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I grew anxious and worried. From the sounds of their arguing, Nadine was annoyed with Rafe, knowing that the three of us were already on the grounds because her men notified her of us being here. She just wanted to blow shit up, and find the damn treasure, getting impatient with this whole fiasco of a treasure hunt. Rafe wouldn't have it though, getting annoyed with Nadine's behavior in return, especially after hearing the news of us being nearby. As fast as the argument had started, it ended just as quickly, with Nadine leaving the room with some of her men following her while Rafe grew frustrated and cleared all of the documents and papers on the table he was using from complete anger and frustration. I almost felt bad for Rafe Adler, understanding that the man just wanted to make a fortune with his own legacy, and not by his parent's name.

"Everything alright? You look anxious again." Nathan said.

I panted, trying to catch my breath from all the climbing we had done as we entered a very spacious room, looking around in awe. I glanced back at Nathan, who was looking right back at me and expecting an answer to his question.

"I'm just...unsure about us being here." I confessed. "I know that we're all bad-ass and everything, but...Rafe's not a guy to mess with. He's got so many fucking resources."

"What did we just tell you? As long as the three of us are working together, we'll be fine." Sam cut in.

"Guys...I can't help but have a bad feeling about this." I argued lightly.

Sam whirled around to face me, finally getting fed up with my doubts.

"What are you having such a _bad feeling_ about, huh?" Sam sighed in frustration.

I gave Sam a small glare, not liking his sudden tone.

"Can't we just find another way to save your ass from Hector Salvador? There's gotta be some other way to make enough money."

"Tara, if you're having doubts being here, I won't keep you. But I **need** to find Avery's treasure." Sam told me.

"What the hell is your problem huh? I'm just...I'm scared okay?!" I snapped.

Nathan looked between the both of us with worried glances, trying to hold his arms out to prevent us from getting closer to each other, knowing that our anger might get the better of us as he made a move to step in.

"Guys! Cool it! Tara, Sam's right. I...I won't force you to stay with us. But we need this treasure to save him. We can do this without you." Nate lowered his voice.

"I know that you guys need the treasure, but _god damn it all!_ Going up against Rafe Adler is almost not worth it! I'm not just thinking about myself or saving my own skin! I'm worried about you two the most! About Anne! Don't you guys see what I'm saying here?! This might not end the way you want it to! I almost lost you guys over this treasure, I don't...I don't want that to happen again."

Sam frowned, his hands twitching at his sides as he tried to consider what I was saying.

"Tara...I know that this stuff might bring back some bad memories for you. I get that you don't want to lose me again, but please. Let's just...let's finish what we started."

Sam made his way over to me, gently grabbing my hand.

"Let's finish this together...I just want to find the treasure with you guys. And I promise that after this is all over...you, me, and Anne...we can finally be a family. I have such confidence in you. Help me find Avery's treasure. Please." Sam pleaded.

 _The sooner we find the treasure, the sooner we save Sam. Isn't that what makes this all worth it again?_

I finally gave Sam a smirk before planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Alright. Let's do this. I'm sorry about all of the doubt, you know I just worry about you guys right? I love you two a lot, more than life itself."

"I get it. Thank you for always looking out for us." Sam smiled.

We finally moved forward, feeling more united than we were previously. We glanced over in the middle area of the ginormous room, seeing a cross on one plate and a pile of coins on the other plate.

"It's another cross." Sam noticed. "At least this one has some jewels on it right?"

Sam chuckled as he reached for the golden cross, and I quickly grabbed his wrist, sensing that this was a trap. Sam gave me a small glare, probably annoyed that I had prevented him from taking it.

"What now? I thought we were good, darlin'." Sam pouted.

"I know a trap when I see one, sweetheart." I muttered.

"Tara's right, Sam. Don't touch the cross." Nate almost sighed in relief. "Come on, Sam. Look at it. It's the only valuable thing we've seen in this cave."

"Right." Sam nodded.

I let go, letting Sam drop his hand until it was at his side again.

"So it's another test then?" I asked Nathan.

Nathan nodded as he cautiously walked around to examine the two plates that were balanced.

"Greed." Sam figured out.

"Yeah, or lack thereof." Nathan mumbled.

"Okay so..."

"It's gotta be the coins." We all said in unison.

Sam raised his hand again, letting it hover over the plate of coins before he glanced back at Nathan again.

"Are we sure about this?" He asked.

"Well, pretty sure." Nate shrugged.

We felt the area shake again, probably from an explosive nearby, knowing it wouldn't take long for Nadine and Rafe to find this place.

" _Pretty sure_ will have to do." Sam replied.

Sam reached for the coins as Nathan warned him to take only one coin. I started praying silently that this wasn't a trap, closing my eyes as I waited patiently for Sam to grab one coin. We were worried when the plate triggered something and tensed up from where we stood. My eyes widened from surprise however, when candles upon candles lit up from above us simultaneously. I glanced down as I was blinded from the lights above, only then noticing that there was a map being projected from the light above us.

"Do you guys recognize the shape?" Nate let out a laugh.

"It's Madagascar." Sam noted.

"Look, there's a star right here." Nathan pointed out.

"That's Kings Bay." I said.

"Son of a bitch...he's screwing with us." Sam sighed.

"What do you expect from a pirate?" I chuckled softly.

"What are you two talking about?" Nate looked confused.

"Avery." Sam threw his hands up in frustration. "He's screwing with us." He repeated. "This was supposed to be it, so where's the goddamn treasure?! I mean, King's Bay. Great. What's next? North Pole? Outer Space?"

"I don't wanna say it, but I told you so." I smirked.

"Oh shut up." Sam grumbled.

Nathan paced around the area, looking deep in thought, but Sam wasn't having it.

"Nathan?"

" _For those who prove worthy...Paradise awaits._ " He quoted.

 _Wait...what? Is he talking about that coin? It's another clue then?_

It finally begun to make sense, all of this 'proving to be worthy' nonsense.

"Avery was recruiting." I realized.

"Who was recruiting?- -"

"Avery!" I smiled. "He was recruiting!"

"Recruiting for what?!" Sam snapped.

Before I could answer, another explosion hit us, only this time, it was right at the room we were at. We fell over on the ground and coughed as the smoke started to clear to reveal Nadine and her mercenaries. They immediately came storming in, their guns all pointed at us as Nadine came in with a huge grin on her face.

 _Oh shit._

* * *

"Ah crap." Nathan grumbled.

 _And there's his catchphrase...I almost missed it_.

"You gentlemen, are very, very noisy." Nadine told us.

Nadine looked surprised to see me, before she gave me a wink, causing my face to heat up.

"A pleasure to see you again, Theresa." Nadine nodded.

"Hey, Nadine." I smiled sheepishly.

"Guns on the floor. Slowly." Nadine ordered us.

I sighed as I reluctantly dropped my pistol to the floor, following Nathan and Sam's example.

"I still owe you from last time." Nadine told Nate.

"Throwing me out of a window didn't do it for yah?" He rolled his eyes.

"Rafe, come in." Nadine spoke into her walkie-talkie.

" ** _I_ _ **'m at** the graveyard. Nadine, they were here._**" Rafe replied.

"Yeah, I'm looking at them right now." She smirked.

" ** _What? Where are you?_** "

"Come back to the Cathedral. Follow the holes." Nadine told him.

" ** _I'm on my way. And for God's sake, don't shoot them yet._** "

"Might want to hurry then."

Nadine put her walkie-talkie away, glancing down at the floor as she walked around us carefully, almost like a cougar that was ready to pounce.

"Well this is just great." I muttered sarcastically.

"Well you followed the wrong crowd, darling." Nadine grinned.

"I could say the same to you about Rafe." I retorted.

Sam gave me a glare that clearly told me to shut up before I got hurt, but Nadine only seemed amused.

"King's Bay..." She noticed the projected map.

"Yeah...but uh...where in King's Bay?" I smiled at her teasingly.

"You'll need that cross over there to figure it out, but you're gonna need three people to tell you how to use it." Sam added.

"Let me guess...you three?" Nadine folded her arms.

"Well, you wanna leave it to Rafe, you're gonna be waiting a long time." Nate joked.

"Sorry, I'm not here to negotiate. Bring me the crucifix." She ordered her men.

 _Not really a crucifix but okay...whatever floats your boat._

One of her men moved forward, and I glanced at Sam from the corner of my eye, giving him a wink that was meant to tell him that I was ready to go as soon as the mercenary grabbed the golden cross that would most likely set off a trap. Sam returned the wink before Nadine glanced at us again. She grew suspicious from our calm reactions, considering we were being held at gun point, so it wasn't long before she figured out we were tricking her.

"Don't touch it!" She yelled.

We ran as the floor began falling apart around us, and it didn't take much time at all before there was a shootout between what remained of Nadine's men and us.

 _Let's get this shit on the road then._

* * *

It wasn't long until we were separated, hearing gunfire and shouting all around my surroundings. I held my hands over my ears as I quickly searched around the area, finding that the only way out of here would be to go up. I could see Sam and Nathan from a distance, and I could tell that they would also figure out the way out of this blasted place. My eyes widened as I saw a mercenary run at me with his gun aimed straight for me and I quickly ducked before he took his shot at me. I yelled in anger as I ran at the man, kicking his shin as hard as I could to knock him down. I grabbed a fallen rock nearby from the falling debris, hitting him across the head to knock him out. I quickly grabbed his pistol, making sure to grab all of his ammo and stuff it into my pockets as I fought my way out of the crumbling Cathedral. All I remembered was running as fast as I could, not daring to look back

 **FLASH!**

 _"Tara...she's beautiful."_

 _Nathan smiled warmly at me, staring down at my newborn with tears in his eyes._

 _"Sam would be so proud of you." Nathan assured me._

 _"Nah, he'd be crying because I would have broken his hand from squeezing too hard." I joked._

 _Nathan let out small laugh from my joke as he pulled up a chair next to the hospital bed. I brushed my bangs from my face, feeling tired as I glanced down at the sleeping baby in my arms._

 _"It took her long enough to get here that's for sure." I sighed._

 _"It was worth it though." Nate smiled._

 _"You know...I keep thinking Sam will come back..." I frowned._

 _"I'm sorry..."_

 _"Nathan...I don't want you to ever be sorry about Sam. It wasn't your fault. I just miss him is all..."_

 _"I promise..." Nathan mumbled._

 _"Promise what?"_

 _"That I'll always be here for you and this baby."_

 _I blinked away tears, cracking a smile at Nathan before I reached for his hand._

 _"You wanna hold your niece or what?" I asked._

 _Nathan perked up, looking at my child nervously as he leaned back in his chair._

 _"Do not give her that face!" I laughed. "Nathan Morgan Drake, you've been shot at countless times, you've seen crazy shit come back from the dead from cursed treasure, and you're afraid to hold a damn baby?"_

 _"I uh...No...it's just...she looks so...fragile." Nate stammered._

 _"That she is. You just have to hold her carefully and you'll be okay. Come on..." I urged him._

 _"Alright fine." Nate gave in._

 _Nathan stood up from his seat as I carefully maneuvered the baby into his arms, making sure that he was holding her correctly before relaxing back into the bed._

 _"Wow." Nathan gasped._

 _"I know...isn't she something?" I smiled._

 _"She's so small..."_

 _"Newborn babies tend to be small."_

 _Sully came in with a teddy bear and pink balloon, smiling at the sight of Nathan holding his niece._

 _"Well well. Isn't this a lovely sight." Sully commented._

 _The baby sniffled as she slowly opened her eyes to stare at the man holding her. Nathan looked surprised as the baby stared right at him before cracking a smile._

 _"So you like Uncle Nathan huh? You're not so bad yourself, kid." Nathan grinned excitedly._

 _"I think she just pooped." Sully chuckled._

 _Nathan's smile faded as the horrid smell hit his nose instantly, making his face scrunch up from disgust._

 _"Here you go. You can have her back."_

 _I laughed hysterically, finding Nathan's discomfort hilarious._

 **FLASH!**

I stumbled into the snow, breathing heavily as I tried to catch my breath for about the fifth time today. I groaned as I moved to lean against a stone nearby, my vision growing fuzzy. I could hear a faint buzz, but then realized it was the walkie-talkie in my jacket pocket.

" ** _Tara! What the hell is going on over there? I can hear the fireworks from here!_** " Sully yelled worriedly.

I shakily pressed the button, taking another deep breath as I tried to form words.

"Sully...get the plane ready to go. Nate and Sam should be there soon. We have to take off as soon as we make it to the plane." I responded.

" _ **You aren't with them?**_ " Sully muttered.

"We got separated. I'm struggling to stay conscious right now." I muttered tiredly. "I'll be there as fast as I can okay? Let me know if Sam and Nathan make it over to you first okay?"

" ** _Darlin', you better make it back okay. Don't fall asleep alright? Just hold on._** "

I dropped the walkie-talkie with shaking hands, noticing that my hand was covered in blood.

"Fuck me." I grumbled.

I groaned in pain as I stood up on wobbling legs, struggling to stand straight. I slapped myself in the face to try and keep myself awake and alert, feeling the sharp pain, practically hearing my heart beating in my ears like a loud drum. I started to distract myself as I walked, singing a song I heard Anne play on YouTube recently.

" _I don't know what the fuck just happened, but I don't really care. I'm get the fuck up outta here, fuck this shit I'm out._ " I hummed softly.

" ** _Tara! You still there sweetheart?!_** " Sully yelled.

I could hear gunfire in the background and grew worried instantly.

" ** _I've got Nate here! Sam's gonna come and get you okay?! Where are you?"_**

"Just get ready to move, I can hear the gunfire. I'm almost there okay?" I mumbled softly.

"TARA!"

I fell to my knees as I saw Sam running in the distance, shooting two mercenaries behind him as he came over to me.

"Shit! You're bleeding!" Sam blinked away tears.

Sam quickly wrapped his arms around me, picking me up bridal style as he grabbed the walkie-talkie from my hand.

"Victor! I got her! I'm coming back alright? Get out the first aid kit!"

Sam glanced down at me, a look of determination on his face.

"Let's get the hell outta here, doll."

"Okay." I gave him a small smile.

* * *

 _Hey guys! I'm sorry it took me so long to update this story, but let me tell you...I have had a lot of shit going on and I'm not doing so great right now. Aside from my fall semester being tiring, a lot of personal stuff is happening, and it's not good. I'll try to update as soon as I can. Just please be patient okay guys?_

 _Love yah,_

 _bellas2silly_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey guys! I'm sorry it's been a while! But I'm back, and I'm so happy finals are over now! Anyways, enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

 _"Please, don't- -don't do this- -" I whimpered._

 _"It's for your own good sweetheart. Now just squeeze my hand, Nathan's gonna fix you up, okay?" Sam said._

 _I wiggled around, desperate to get away, begging for the pain to stop._

 _"No. Stop! Stop it! Please stop!" I cried out._

 _"You guys need my help?" Sully yelled from the front of the plane._

 _"It's okay, we got it!" Sam replied._

 _"Sam. I'm gonna clean the wound. Hold her down." Nathan warned._

 _Sam nodded, noting that even in my delirious state, that I would more than likely fight back. Before I could comprehend what was happening next, I felt an intense sharp pain that I hadn't experienced in a long time. I let out a scream as Sam pinned down my torso while my body thrashed wildly. Sam blinked away tears as I slowly gave in after another minute. After taking note of how heavy my eyelids were beginning to feel, I finally gave in to the darkness that consumed me._

 **FLASH!**

"You alright, doll? I can get you some more pain meds if you need them. Just say the word." Sam glanced at me worriedly.

I hissed as I sat up more straight in the jeep we were currently driving around in and gave Sam a small smile.

"I'm fine. Just sore...slightly bruised...that fucking gunshot ruined everything though. I'm so tired. No more bikinis for this chick." I chuckled.

"You don't have to remind me that I wasn't there to protect you. I'm sorry." Sam sighed.

I frowned at Sam's tone, giving him a look of confusion and disbelief.

"What the hell are you sorry for? It's not like we're psychic or anything, we didn't know that was going to happen. And besides...I've been through worse with Nathan. He can tell you all about it when this is over." I said.

"Already did." Nathan spoke up. "Just left out the _really_ scary parts."

"Oh yeah? Name one thing that was worse than what happened in Scotland." Sam scoffed. "I mean, Nathan mentioned some crazy shit but- -"

"Almost getting killed by weird zombie like creatures, hanging off a derailed train in the Himalaya Mountains, getting drugged and hallucinating about your craziest nightmares over and over- -" I rambled.

"Okay, okay. I get it." Sam sighed.

"Oh really? Do you need me to continue? I mean did Nathan tell you _everything?_ " I raised an eyebrow.

"Please don't." Nathan glanced at me nervously through the rear-view mirror in the driver's seat.

"What?" Sam sat up taller, looking at Nathan suspiciously.

"You sure? I haven't even gotten to the best bits yet." I laughed.

"I'd rather you not say anything. I told Sam everything he needed to know about our little adventures." Nathan blurted out.

"Alright then. There you go Sam. You need not worry about little ol' me." I chuckled

"This comin' from the woman that was still tripping over her damn feet back when she was twenty three years old." Sam muttered.

"Hey! I wasn't _that_ clumsy!" I glared at him.

"Would you two quit it?" Nathan groaned. "It's like you two are seventeen all over again!"

"God what I wouldn't give to be seventeen again. Actually, never mind...I was a fucking hormonal wreck- -" I rambled.

"You still are." Sam smirked.

I sighed angrily before punching Sam's arm as hard as I could, causing him to cry out.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?! I was only kidding!" Sam whined.

"That's it. You're sleeping with Nathan tonight when we get back to the motel. Sully, you are more than welcome to share my bed with me."

Sully laughed as he threw his cigar out of the jeep as he finished it.

"I'm awfully tempted darlin', but I don't know if that's such a good idea." Sully played along.

"What? I'm not a married woman." I smirked.

"You act like I'm not right here. Sully, not another damn word!" Sam huffed angrily.

"Aw poor Sammy." I cooed at him.

"Alright! I found something!" Nathan cut off Sam before he could argue.

Nathan parked the jeep, the four of us stepping out of it to explore the surrounding area. Nathan kept Sam and I separated, grumbling about how he was the grown-up between the three of us which I found to be hilarious and ironic at the same time. I only found myself shaking my head with a small smile on my face, thinking how amusing this was, and how this trip was just like the good old days.

"So Nathan, you and Tara are thinking that Avery, Tew, and some other big-shot pirates pooled their treasure and came out here because...why exactly?" Sam asked.

"Who knows? Maybe for protection? British authorities were closing in on them." Nathan replied.

"It's more than likely that it's what happened honestly." I said.

We approached an old ruined tower made of a nice stone structure. It still surprised me at how impressive these structures were and how people from the seventeenth century were able to come together to create things like this. If this Pirate Utopia existed, with pirates from around the globe banding together...

 _It was just so incredible and mind blowing to think about._

I followed Sam and Nathan into the tower, as Sully remained over at the jeep, and finally we all noticed that on the floor was Christopher Condent's sigil engraved onto the flat surface.

"That's Christoper Condent's sigil. Captain of the Fiery Dragon. Operated out of Madagascar around Avery's time." Sam mused, staring down at the sigil in awe.

"At least we're on the right track." I shrugged.

"Could you at least sound more excited about this? I mean come on! Look at this! It's amazing!" Sam laughed.

I cracked a small smile as I took note of how handsome and adorable Sam was, and how his child-like wonder shined bright despite all that he'd been through, and despite being in a prison for fifteen years.

"I'm still on pain meds, you forget that I'm a little too tired to be excited." I chuckled.

"Come on! _You_ love pirates! _I_ love pirates! You know about this stuff just as much as I do, show your enthusiasm! Look at where we are right now!" Sam grinned.

"Of course I love pirates, how would you have guessed by our daughter's name?" I rolled my eyes playfully.

I walked back over to the jeep pulling out an item I kept in my satchel for all of my adventures. Nathan had never known that I still owned one, or that I took several pictures of him and kept it in a scrapbook, but I recorded all of our adventures with a polaroid camera. It was something my parents gave me when I was a kid, right before they passed away, and it was something I always took care of, which anyone would be able to tell especially since it was in pristine condition. I checked my camera for film as I started to sneak over to Nathan, Sam, and Sully who were still conversing at the tower. I smiled as I positioned the camera just right, catching the three of them off guard as they perked up from the snapping sound of the camera and a small flash of light, indicating that I took their photo. Sam stubbed out his cigarette, looking surprised to see me with a polaroid camera and gave me a huge grin.

"Holy shit. Is that your old polaroid camera?" Sam asked.

"You still have that thing?" Nathan laughed.

"Fuck yeah I do. I've got tons of pictures you know, from all of our previous adventures." I smirked.

Sam turned to give Nathan a playful glare.

"I thought you said you didn't have any pictures."

"I never knew she took pictures! She must have hid the damn camera in her satchel this entire time! You made Elena think she was going crazy with the sounds from that camera! Hell, I thought I was going crazy too!" Nate said.

"So how's it look?"

I jumped as I saw Sam stand right next to me, his hot breath fanning my neck as I stared up at him. After shaking the picture several times for the next minute, I held it up to see how it turned out.

"That's actually a really nice picture. It brings out my muscles wouldn't you say?" Sam winked at me.

I blushed as I let out a small chuckle and took the picture away, putting it in my satchel for safe keeping.

"I remember you used to hang pictures all over your wall of us back when we were at the orphanage. If you weren't overly interested in pirates like I was, I would have thought you would've become a photographer or somethin'."

"You always liked to remind me of that." I rolled my eyes.

I turned to walk back to the jeep again, only for Sam to grab my wrist and pull me back around to face him.

"Maybe we can start a portfolio of our own back at the motel?" Sam whispered in my ear.

Despite how cheesy and hilarious that sounded, my eyes widened at Sam's husky and seductive tone, and I could already feel the want in between my legs throb with want again.

"I'm gonna...g- -go to the car." I stammered.

 **FLASH!**

 _My sweet daughter walked over slowly on her small legs, wobbling as she tried to remain balanced on the wooden surface of the floor. Nathan knelt down at least two feet away from her with his arms outstretched as a huge smile was plastered onto his face. The sight nearly made my heart melt into a puddle from how cute and heartwarming this moment truly was. Sully sat at the arm chair near an open window as he continued to smoke his cigar and read a newspaper, but I could see him glance over every few seconds with a smile gracing his lips._

 _"Come on, Annie! Get over here!" Nathan cooed at his niece._

 _I laughed as Anne tilted her head in confusion before she glanced over at me._

 _"Hey don't look at me for help, small fry. You want him, go and get him!" I smiled warmly at Anne._

 _Anne turned back to look at Nathan again before she finally began moving forward once more, making those cute little baby babbles that were too cute to mention. Nathan nearly cheered once Anne had made it over to him, and he immediately scooped her up in his arms, enjoying the giggles he got in response. Nathan propped Anne against his hip as he bopped her nose with his index finger which made her giggle once more. Anne opened her mouth, showing her two front baby teeth that were starting to grow in, as if she wanted to say something. By now, Anne had only done cute baby babbles, and hadn't really said her first word yet. The look on her face made it seem as if she actually wanted to tell Nathan something. Nathan perked up almost instantly, as he urged her to talk, to try and get her to say her first words, though I thought it was a long shot._

 _"Go on...speak my dear." Nathan said dramatically._

 _"mmm...dda...daa...dada. Dada!" The small child spoke._

 _Nathan's smile disappeared almost altogether, unsure of how to react. My smile had faded as well, along with Sullivan's. It wasn't until I could see my vision blur that I realized that I was now crying. I quickly wiped my eyes, before I broke down almost completely, and went over to Nathan to take Anne away from him._

 _"Come on, sweetie. Let's put you down for a nap, huh?" I mumbled softly._

 _"Tara wait- -" Nathan finally spoke up._

 _"It's okay..." I barely whispered. "I'm...I'm okay."_

 _I'll be okay...Anne will be okay..._

 **FLASH!**

"Shit! Stop! Stop the damn car!" Sullivan shouted.

I was shaken out of my memories as the jeep had skidded to a stop. In the distance, we were able to make out a dust cloud, most likely from an explosion. It didn't take long to guess who was also here with us.

"Nadine's guys?" I tensed up.

"We don't know that..." Sam chuckled nervously.

"I see military types poking around so..." Nathan said.

"Son of a bitch." Sam cursed quietly.

"Come on. We can still get around them. Don't panic just yet." I told them.

"Says the woman who got shot and nearly bled out by said mercenaries." Sam muttered.

"Sam, I swear to god, you act like I'm some fragile fucking doll." I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Well I'm sorry if I worry about you- -"

"Look who's talking." I scoffed. " _Says the man_ that owes Hector fucking Alcazar a shit ton of that damn treasure we're after." I mimicked Sam.

"You're hot when you're angry, you know." Sam smirked.

I felt my face heat up quickly as I averted my gaze from him.

"...shut up." I grumbled.

"Guys. If you could just put your lovers' quarrel on hold for just a minute." Nathan hissed at us before lowering the binoculars he had. "We're gonna have to take them out quietly. They're directly in our path, alright? We can't get around them as much as I'd like to."

"Damn it. Alright, let's get this over with. We've got places to be after all." I chuckled softly.

Nathan moved the car slowly, hiding it behind a huge boulder to make sure Shoreline mercenaries didn't spot us immediately. The four of us went around the ruins nearby, and decided to split up to take out Nadine's men faster. I went into the tall grass, slowly sneaking up on a big burly man as my arms wrapped around his neck and brought him back into the tall grass as I quietly had him in a tight choke hold until he fell unconscious. I heard voices nearby and quickly ducked into the tall grass again, listening in on two soldiers that were having a conversation concerning us, or rather me.

"The boss wants us to grab the woman with the Drake brothers." The tall burly one said.

"What the hell for, mate? Can't we just kill them all and be done with it?" The shorter man asked.

"Nadine and Rafe wanted to do some shit to her I think, Rafe mentioned using her against the Drake brothers, but Nadine had other plans." He replied.

 _Whoa what the fuck?!_

One of them perked up after hearing something nearby and aimed their gun over at a bush. That was when I made my move, quickly and quietly moving over until I hit one of the men with the end of my Para pistol right in the back of his head. The other whirled around, letting out a shout of surprise before I thought quickly and shot his hand, causing him to drop his gun. He cried out, dropping the gun instantly as he began to charge at me. I was tackled to the ground, my vision blurring as his hand wrapped around my throat. I reached for my gun and grabbed it as he continued to strangle me, but suddenly, there was no more pressure. I gasped for air as the man slumped forward on top of me and gently pushed him off of me. I glanced up to see Sam kneeling in front of me, looking scared as all hell of my current condition.

"Wow...that went more smoothly than I thought it would." I commented.

"You can say that again." Sam chuckled nervously. "I think that's the last of them though."

Sam helped me up, watching me carefully as I was still catching my breath.

 _Should I tell them about what those two guys said?_

"You alright? They didn't do- -"

"No, I'm fine." I cut him off. "I'm okay...thanks."

"You look a little out of it, are you sure...?" Sam continued.

"I'm okay. I was just thrown off from how strong that one guy was." I lied.

Sam didn't say anything else as we both walked back to the jeep and continued up to the old volcano.

* * *

 **FLASH!**

 _I eyed the blonde woman in front of me, glancing down at her ID tag that indicated that she was a reporter._

 _"Who the hell is this?" I stared at the woman skeptically._

 _Nate's eyes widened before he wrapped an arm around my shoulders._

 _"Haha. This is Elena. She's funding the trip to find Sir Francis Drake, remember?" Nate chuckled nervously._

 _Oooooh. Right...I actually forgot about that._

 _"Elena Fisher." She held out her hand._

 _I smiled as she gave me a firm handshake and a confident grin._

 _"I like you." I gave her a nod of approval.  
_

 _Elena was thrown off by the comment before she gave me a nervous smile._

 _"Let's get going shall we?" Elena turned to Nathan._

 _"Don't worry about Tara. She's all bark and no bite." Nate joked to lighten the tension._

 _"Don't make me hurt you, kid. Compare me to a dog again and we'll see where it gets you." I glared at him._

 _Elena hid her mouth behind her hand in attempt to refrain from laughing._

 **FLASH!**

I kept my eyes closed during the drive, loving the warmth the sun was giving me. I could feel myself smiling faintly from my memory, before I began frowning at the thought of Elena.

 _Maybe I should tell her about this? But then again...it isn't my place to tell her...but Nathan's being a pansy about it. Protect her my ass, he's missed this life. He just won't admit it yet...I missed it too._

I reopened my eyes moving my sunglasses to the top of my head almost like a headband, realizing that Nathan was using that grappling hook on the front of the car to get us up this slippery and muddy hill.

 _And of course, that's when shit went down._

I yelped as the car slid as it was being flung over a cliff-side, Nathan falling out of the driver's seat before Sam quickly caught him by his wrist. I panicked, moving as quickly as I could, and using my strength, climbed into the driver's seat as Nathan struggled to get into the Jeep. Sullivan looked at me with wide eyes, yelling profanities and telling me to floor it.

"GO GO GO!" Sullivan shouted.

"I'M GOING GOD DAMN IT!" I snapped.

I had my floor pressed down on the gas, and surely enough, we were slowly moving up until we made it back onto the surface. I finally stopped as I took a deep and shaky breath before I turned around to give Nathan an extremely intense glare.

"No more driving for you today." I told him.

"What? You can't just- -" Nate started.

"Argue with me, and I'll make sure you regret it." I grumbled.

"Someone woke up in a bad mood." Sully joked lightly.

"When someone wakes up to almost falling off of a fucking cliff, it might make that someone a little mad." I rolled my eyes.

"Tara, relax. We're fine- -"

"I'm not changing my mind, you know." I cut Nathan off again.

"Sam. Come on..." Nathan turned to look at his brother.

"Hey, don't look at me, you're the one that pissed her off. I'm just glad it isn't me this time." Sam held his hands up in mock surrender.

Nathan sighed before giving in, folding his arms as he slumped in the backseat like a child would whenever they didn't get their way. I would have found it amusing, but I still felt angry as I grabbed the map from Sully, inspecting it carefully to see if we were on the right track and smiled when I found that we were indeed.

"Alright. Let's get going. You'll get your driving privileges later, Nate." I sighed.

"I'm a grown-ass man, you can't just- -"

"I can and I will. Respect your elders, kid." I smirked.

"You're only a few years older!" Nathan scoffed.

I could feel myself calm down as I continued to drive for the next half hour, taking in the beautiful sites that this area had to offer. It wasn't until Sully started to make conversation before I was in a decent mood again. Sam talked about how he spent a lot of time reading a lot of books in the prison, and how a certain guard had a soft spot for him because he kept bringing Sam books all the time. When Nathan asked why he didn't get the guard to send word to us that he was alive, Sam had a grim look on his face. Sam merely replied that he _did_ try, but the guard wasn't seen again after that attempt. After fighting more Shoreline soldiers and after more driving, we found ourselves at the biggest tower of them all. It didn't take long to guess that we were at Avery's tower based off how tall and extravagant it was. We all scrambled to get out of the jeep, exploring the area to look for any openings inside the tower, but so far finding none. Nathan eventually found a door that led underground to some cellar, and there we found a way in after getting rid of a opening that was bricked over. I nearly laughed at Sullivan's reaction to Nathan blowing up the wall to get into Avery's tower, but found myself stifling my laughter with my hand instead.

"You're not mad at Nate still are ya?" Sam asked.

"Nah, I feel better. I was just terrified, and you know how I get when that happens." I replied.

"Oh I know all too well." Sam smiled.

"Let's go into that damn tower huh?" I grinned.

Sam grabbed my hand, pulling me along with him, making sure not to hurt my wound as he maneuvered us into Avery's tower.

 _We were not disappointed with what we saw._

* * *

I looked around the spacious room in complete awe, walking slowly as I took it all in. Inside, I was jumping with excitement, truly giddy at what Avery had left behind for us. Deep down, I had a feeling that the treasure wouldn't be in here, as I was still thinking about our time in Scotland. If Tew and Avery teamed up together, who's to say that Avery didn't recruit other pirates from that time period as well? It was not only thought provoking, but truly exciting as well. It was just as my parents had told me when I was a small child, about the tales of a pirate colony, a utopia for pirates, known as Libertalia. I took my parents words like gospel, and it was then that I grew curious as well as fascinated with pirates from that moment on. When I met Sam and Nathan at the orphanage, my love for pirates only grew exponentially over time. I found a small gold coin on a table nearby, feeling a frown form on my face, silently hoping that the treasure wasn't here so that my theory on Libertalia was correct, hoping my parents theories were right as well.

"Hey, what did you find?" Nathan asked.

"We're on the right track it seems." I held up the gold coin.

Nathan smiled brightly as he examined the coin before he handed it back over to me, allowing me to pocket the coin for safekeeping. Sam could barely contain his excitement and ran down the spiral stairs that led underground, and so we chased after him.

"He seems excited." Sully commented.

"Well, he's got a lot riding on this." Nathan replied.

We crawled through a small space in the wall, finding Sam at the other side of the room with sculptures an all sorts of engravings on the wall.

"Whoa...magnificent. Don't see a treasure though." Sully mumbled.

"Hey guys...?" Sam called out to us.

"Coming!" Nathan said.

We all approached Sam staring at a sculpture of St. Dismas himself.

"Come check this out." Sam muttered.

"Ah, Saint Dismas." I smiled. "We meet again.

"So...what have we got?" Sully asked.

"More sigils." Nathan noted. "There's our boy Avery. Thomas Tew. That's um..."

"Adam Baldridge. That's uh... Joseph Farrell, and that's Richard Want."

"And there's Anne Bonny." I smirked. "All pirate captains."

"All right, so maybe your pirate pool theory wasn't so ridiculous after all." Sam chuckled softly.

"All right, so uh...let's see, what do you think the trick is here?" Nathan asked. "You gotta push a button, pull something?"

I backed away as I watched Nathan and Sam run their hands all over the St. Dismas sculpture and stood over by Sullivan.

"Maybe one of the arms...?" Sam guessed.

"Boys. Whenever you're done fondling poor Saint Dismas, I think you might want to come take a look at this." Sully told them.

Sam and Nathan did as instructed as Sullivan continued to talk.

"The trapezoid is obviously the volcano. The crown, that's King's Bay."

"We got ourselves a map, gentleman." I smirked, clapping a hand on Sully's shoulder.

"Victor, you're a goddamn genius." Sam muttered.

"You hear that Nate? Genius." Sully smiled smugly.

"Yeah, yeah." Nate waved his hand. "Okay so...if we're here. This tower lines up with Avery's sigil."

"I knew that from the moment we drove up to the tower. Avery was always smug, wanted to display his power and riches. He was a fucking show-boat." I said.

"Okay then, so the other sigils..." Sam trailed off.

"Must be the towers from Avery's time." Nathan concluded.

"Well, I mean...our treasure's gotta be in one of them right?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but which one? I count twelve towers." Sullivan noted.

"I don't know guys..." I muttered softly.

Nathan glanced at me, knowing the look on my face all too well.

"What is it?" Nate asked.

"So uh...my parents used to tell me stories...before they died and um..."

Nathan grabbed my hand, giving me a small smile that urged me to continue.

"It was about their theories on Captain Avery. My mom and dad would tell me all sorts of stuff, about a pirate colony, a utopia of sorts and- -"

"Hey Victor." Sam spoke up, interrupting me.

I would have snapped at Sam, before I noticed that he was knelt down, holding a cigarette that was still burning.

"You didn't start smoking cigarettes by any chance, did ya?" Sam asked.

"Looks like we're not the first ones here." I grew nervous.

Distantly, we heard shouts, and knew immediately that Shoreline was here with us. The four of us scrambled to find cover, removing our guns from their holsters as we got ready for a battle with more Shoreline soldiers once more.

"We'll finish this later! I promise!" Nathan told me.

"It's fine Nathan! Let's just focus on getting rid of these assholes!" I replied.

An explosion shook the area as hunks of the ceiling fell. It wasn't long before the entire room was in a shoot out with Shoreline soldiers surrounding us.

"It was a goddamn ambush!" Sam hissed.

I noticed heavily armored men with shotguns and began to run, hoping to throw one of my grenades at them to break off the armor before taking them out. I groaned as I carefully lifted up my shirt, leaning again the stone structure as I glanced down at the bandages wrapped around my waist, seeing that my wound from Scotland was opening up and bleeding through the bandage.

"Shit." I muttered to myself.

I put my shirt down, reloading my pistol before shooting at Shoreline soldiers nearby. It wasn't until five minutes into the battle that I found myself being pulled by the back of my shirt being thrown against a wall by a man from Shoreline. The tall man moved fast, disarming me before I knew what was happening and having me in a hold with my arms behind my back. As his chest was pressing into my back, I began thrashing around wildly in attempt to shake him off, but nothing appeared to be working.

"I've got her!" He called out.

 _OH FUCK NO!_

"Get the fuck off of me!" I snarled at him.

I threw my head back, catching his face and hearing a crunch before he cried out and released me to hold his face. I threw my leg up in a high kick, hitting his head again before I knocked him unconscious. Another man came running at me, before he was tackled to the side by Sam who quickly hit his head with the end of his gun.

"You alright?!" Sam yelled worriedly.

"Not really!" I groaned in pain.

I held my side before I realized the noise had begun to die down, meaning that we took out every Shoreline soldier in the room. We all grouped up near the St. Dismas sculpture, noticing Sam digging into the pockets of an unconscious soldier nearby.

"What're you doing?" Nate asked.

"Just confirming a suspicion. Shit, look at this." Sam said.

Nathan took the slip of paper from Sam, cursing to himself as he examined it.

"They figured out the towers too."

"Locations, sigils, the works." Sam explained.

"So now what?" Sullivan asked.

"Now what? Now we're screwed. Because there's four of us and there's God knows how many of them. And they have a head start!" Sam grumbled.

"Yeah, but they don't know which tower to go to yet." Nathan told him.

"That's great, Nathan, cause neither do we." Sam rolled his eyes.

Nathan pulled out the coin we retrieved from Scotland before he held it up next to one of the sigils on the wall.

"Yes we do." Nathan replied. "Look, it's a little worn down, but that right there is a match."

"Libra and the scales of justice." I smirked.

"Are you sure? Because I mean, it could be this one too." Sam pointed over at another sigil.

"Crap." He muttered.

"But still...two beats the hell out of twelve." Sullivan commented.

"You've got that right." I nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'm gonna take this tower. You and Sully, take that one. Tara can come with me."

"No no no no no, Rafe's guys are gonna be all over these towers by now." Nathan objected.

"Exactly. So if we wanna have the chance to catch them, then we gotta split up." Sam nodded.

"Sam, just hold up a second will ya?" Nathan sighed.

I walked alongside Sam, trying to keep up with him, but the pain in my side kept making me slow down.

"You alright?"

Sam stopped as we made it outside of the tower, noticing that I was holding my side.

"I'll be fine, just need to catch my breath is all."

Sam rolled his eyes at my lie before he moved my hand and pulled up my shirt.

"Shit, you must have reopened your wound when we were fighting those assholes. Come on."

Sam gently pulled my hand until we were over at the jeep again.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I need you to take off your shirt." He told me.

Sam rummaged in the trunk of the jeep before pulling out more bandages from a small bag. I took off my shirt while being thankful that I remembered to wear a bra today. Sam used a pair of small scissors to cut through the bandages before he started to clean my wound with alcohol.

"You know, usually someone buys me dinner first before they try to get me out of their clothes- -OWW!"

I yelped as the alcohol was being dabbed against my wound, feeling the fresh sting.

"Yeah, but we didn't do that when we were back in Italy did we?" Sam smirked. "As I recall, you slipped out of that sexy dress and told me to take a shower with you."

I blinked away tears as Sam carefully placed new bandages on and was thankful that he remembered to bring all of this stuff.

"Damn that hurt."

"Relax, it's over now. You sure you're okay for this?" Sam put his hands on my hips carefully.

I bit my bottom lip as my hands were pressed against his chest.

"I actually feel a lot better now. I'm so glad I have you to...take care of me." I slid my hands underneath his shirt.

"I always take care of my woman." Sam winked.

Our foreheads gently pressed together, our breath fanning each other's face as our lips inched closer.

"Am I worthy of being your man now?" Sam quoted me.

I chuckled softly from Sam's reference to our playful banter at the Rossi Estate and could feel myself grow pleasantly warm as I pushed myself closer to Sam.

"I think you've proven yourself worthy." I smiled.

Sam pressed his lips to mine, rubbing small circles with his thumbs on my hips. I smiled into the next kiss, brushing my finger against his nipples in the way I knew he like and heard his sharp intake of breath. Before our kissing grew more heated, we heard Nathan and Sully from a distance and pulled away immediately.

"Really Sam? You're trying to get it on in the rental?" Nathan rolled his eyes.

Sam blushed as he smiled nervously.

"No no, I was actually changing her bandages, she opened up her wound and- -"

"You're not fooling anyone kid." Sullivan smirked.

I slipped my shirt back on, laughing at Sam's reaction before I turned over to Nate and Sully again.

"He just can't keep his hands off of me sometimes, what can I say?" I joked.

"Do not indulge them!" Sam gave me a playful glare.

"You can't blame him, being in prison for fifteen years and all- -" Sully teased.

"It wasn't like that!"

"She's like my sister, Sam, really? Pullin' that shit around me- -"

"Guys! Cut it out!" Sam blushed.

"Let's just get going alright? We can settle this later." I laughed.

Sam got into the driver's seat in the Jeep as I got into the passenger side.

"You run into any Shoreline and you call us okay?" Nathan told us.

"See you soon." Sam nodded, looking flustered.

* * *

 _Hey guys! With my break almost being over, I wanted to finish this damn chapter since I'm feeling like I'm in an Uncharted mood right now. I just got the PS4 Slim Uncharted bundle with my Christmas money and was so happy! If you guys ever wanna play with me on Survival or Multiplayer mode, my username is Assanine21. As for my username, it was an inside joke with my little brother, so ignore it lol ANYWAY, thank you guys so much for your support on this story. Let me know what you think of this chapter. The **FLASH** is for flashbacks, just in case anyone gets confused, I've had several people message me about it. It's just how I write, so if you don't like it, too bad! lol I love you guys so until next time!_

 _-bellas2silly_


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi guys! Thanks for being so patient with every chapter that I release! I appreciate all of the support! Here's another chapter for you!_

* * *

"Nothing...nothing, and even more of _nothing_." Sam grumbled.

I walked past Sam, trying to search for any clues that could give us any sort of lead on the treasure. So far, it was a dead end, but I actually felt fairly confident that Nathan would no doubt find something.

 _Nathan was as sharp as I was when it came to puzzles and clues._

"Hey, keep your chin up. Maybe Nathan and Sully will find something. Knowing Nathan's luck, he'll break a lot of shit along the way too." I chuckled softly.

"So what was with the story of you two hanging off of a derailed train in the Himalayas? I mean, I thought Nathan exagerrated a lot of stuff, but...I dunno." Sam frowned.

"Well, we were up against that war criminal Zaren Lazarevic...or was it Zoran?...anyway, we were up against him and we were trying to save our friend Chloe Frazer, you might know of her, and we just...shit _literally_ spiraled out of control. We were outgunned and outnumbered. There was also Harry fucking Flynn. Never trust a man with an english accent." I explained poorly.

"Okay so..." Sam looked a little confused.

"We were just up against too many people. Plus, Chloe didn't want to be rescued for some reason, and she refused to come with us. Add a conniving Brit and a psychopathic Russian war criminal into the mix and it all goes to hell. I was so afraid that I lost Nathan, and he kept worrying over _me_ when we were brought into that village. It was both an exciting and terrifying experience." I clarified. "We both nearly died, but...just finding Shambala later almost made it worth it. Marco Polo was a brilliant man." I smiled faintly.

"Sounds like you two have been through a lot together." Sam said.

"Yeah, a lot of people thought we both had the hots for each other because we were always together on these little adventures. They were so wrong." I chuckled. "Nathan was just my best friend, he's my brother from another mother. Hell, even Elena thought we had a fling when we'd first met. I always kept trying to push those two together, but she thought I was trying to push her away. It was very hilarious, let's just leave it at that." I replied.

Sam nodded, looking somewhat relieved to hear me say this to him.

"Every other relationship I had didn't last very long, plus Nathan was extremely protective. No guy wants to be with a woman that has a kid." I mumbled.

"Uhh...well..." Sam seemed unsure of what to say, and began fumbling over his words.

At Sam's sudden timid behavior, I let out a small sigh before bringing up the subject I knew couldn't be avoided forever to get rid of the awkwardness now rather than later.

"Listen. I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything. I've been doing fairly decent as a single mother. If you don't want Anne to know that you're her father yet, we'll keep it on the down-low. Also...if you don't want to stick around, that's okay- -"

"Hey, hold on just a second."

Sam cut me off, grabbing my hand to prevent me from moving forward.

"Of course I want to meet her. Don't just assume that I'm some asshole that doesn't want to know his own kid. I won't be like my old man, and you can count on that." He spoke seriously.

"Alright." I nodded. "I wasn't trying to say it quite like that, but...I can tell you're _not_ ready to settle down. I know that picket-fence-family-man-life isn't for you. I don't want to hold you back is all I'm saying. After this is over, you can go do whatever you want. You've been in a prison for fifteen years, and the last thing I want is to tie you down or make you feel obligated to stay with me. Yes, you have the right to get to know Anne, but if you don't want to live with me or even get married...I won't force you to. You can travel the world, and just come visit every once in a while." I explained.

It was hard to see Sam look so conflicted, but I could tell that he was taking everything I told him into consideration.

"I...I don't know what to say." Sam frowned. "I've missed you so much...and I don't want to be away from you, but you're right...I'm not ready to settle down quite yet."

"And that's okay." I told him.

I gave Sam's hand a gentle and reassuring squeeze.

"I don't have a clue as to how you're so calm about this." Sam sighed deeply.

"Well, I just want you to be happy. It's as simple as that." I smiled.

 _Plus years of practice..._

"I know we didn't always see eye-to-eye on everything when we were younger, but thank you, Theresa..."

"I've known you since we were kids, Sam. I can pretty much read you like a book by now." I teased.

"You've certainly changed a lot, but in good ways." Sam smiled timidly. "I mean, you're still that nerdy girl I grew up with..."

"Hey. I wasn't a _complete_ nerd. Just only when it came to stuff I was passionate about. And you were the same way, you goober."

"Goober? What are you, twelve?" Sam laughed.

"Would you rather I call you asshole? Or fuckboy? I rather like the term ass-hat, but y'know. I've grown so used to keeping it PG around Anne. She's too much like you, so it was just a waste. We only agreed that she can be as foul-mouthed as she wants just between the two of us at home. She's too damn mature for someone her age I'll have you know now. So don't treat her like a kid, because she'll knock you on your ass."

"I'll keep all of that in mind. So just out of curiosity, what's Anne like? What's she into?" Sam asked. "I'd rather not walk in blind and make it more awkward than it has to be."

Sam and I walked in the tower side by side as we continued to search for clues while conversing with one another.

"Well she's a lot like you actually. Really damn mischievous, always has a knack for getting into trouble when it comes to people bad mouthing her or her family. She's loyal to a fault, and she's too damn clever for her own good...and she _loves_ history. She's not doing so hot in geometry, but that's because there's this boy in her class that I can tell she's crushing on and she can't focus. She's a total flirt when it comes to guys, but I've made sure that she's not completely stupid and careless when it comes to that department. She's a smart kid and...I feel like Elena, and I taught her well. I can tell she's going places, just from how smart she is. Hopefully she'll go to a nice college after she graduates high school and not follow in my footsteps."

Sam gave me a fond smile from my description as he pulled out another cigarette and lit it. It wasn't until we explored the entire tower that Nathan was calling Sam from Sullivan's cellphone. Sam's face lit up as he talked with Nathan on the phone, pacing around the area before he finally finished his cigarette and put it out. Finally, Sam put his new cellphone away, tucking it back into his pocket.

"You were right! Nathan found something! Which means we can meet up with them and get the hell out of here!" Sam grinned.

"What did I tell yah?" I let out a laugh.

Sam and I high-fived each other excitedly, picking up our pace as we made our way towards the entrance to the tower. Sam grew confused as he pulled out his phone a second time because Nathan was calling. It wasn't long before our smiles both vanished as soon as we opened the doors, seeing tons of Shoreline soldiers running towards us with their guns raised and aimed at us.

"SHIT!" Sam yelled.

We both scattered as we hurried to shut the front door, using something to keep it closed off and barricaded to buy us some time before we ran to find another exit. Sam threw his cellphone to the ground stomping on it until it was broken into pieces.

"Nathan says Rafe's been monitoring our calls and texts through our phones. We've gotta get out of here!" Sam panted heavily.

"There was a window over there! Let's go! The door will buy us some time!" I nodded frantically.

Sam and I made our way across the spacious area in the tower and found an old broken window, making it very convenient for us to climb through and attempt to escape as Shoreline was in the middle of breaking the front door down. The both of us landed in the grass, making a dash for it before more soldiers spotted us and started to shoot. Sam and I were forced to scramble away from each other, and went to find cover mere feet from each other.

"GO! I'll find you later!" I shouted over the gunfire.

Sam gave me a panicked look, about to object before he noticed more Shoreline heading towards us.

"NO! We have to stick together!" He finally argued.

"I'll be right behind you! Now fucking go before we're both caught!"

Sam cursed to himself before he finally nodded at me, a serious and grim look on his face.

"If it comes down to it, you know where to meet up! I'll see you there after we lose 'em!" Sam said confidently.

I nodded as I reloaded my pistol before firing back at them. I turned to look over, sighing in relief when I saw that Sam had made it out on a motorcycle he'd stolen from Shoreline, speeding away with more soldiers chasing after him in their cars. It took me a bit of time, picking off Shoreline soldiers one by one before I managed to inch my way over to one of their vehicles. I turned the car on, and without hesitation, I pressed my foot down on the gas pedal as I put the gear into drive.

"I'll return this to you guys later!" I yelled over my shoulder sarcastically.

* * *

I drove towards the direction Sam had escaped on the motorcycle, while following the sound of gunfire. It hadn't taken long before I could see Nathan hanging off the back of the truck, struggling to make it onto the back of the vehicle while avoid being shot at. I smirked as I turned on the radio, turning the volume all the way up and laughing once I could hear Guns' and Roses _Welcome to the Jungle_ come on. I sped up the car, driving towards Nathan and ramming into the car to create a distraction and help Nathan out. Nathan quickly got onto the truck and beat up the mercenary as their attention was on me. I bobbed my head to the beat of one of my favorite rock songs, singing along to it terribly I might add. Nathan looked over at me in disbelief before he let out a laugh, looking incredibly relieved to see me.

"Tara?! How the hell did you catch up so fast?!" Nathan yelled over the music.

I turned the volume down, before gesturing Nathan to get into the car which he gladly did.

"I have my ways, Nathan!" I winked at him. "Now get your ass in here and let's go get Sam!"

I grabbed my pistol, shooting at more mercenaries along the way after turning off the safety.

"Step on it! They're gaining on him!" Nathan shouted worriedly.

"Yeah, yeah! I got it!" I replied gruffly.

I pressed my foot on the gas pedal as I focused on my current objective to get to Sam, making the car speed up as Nathan fired his weapon. It felt like hours before the two of us had finally managed to catch up to Sam, the both of us extremely relieved to see him alive and well. Sam's hair blew wildly against the wind, and in a way it made him look almost majestic and more ruggishly handsome. I shook the thoughts from my head as I continued to drive, and watched Nathan stand up in his seat to cover Sam and get the soldiers away from him. Sam turned his head slightly, a huge grin on his face as he spotted us. I pulled up next to Sam, the both of us going full speed on our vehicles as more Shoreline soldiers were in the distance behind us.

"How's it going, Sammy?" I yelled over the loudness of the wind. "You havin' fun over there?"

Sam let out a laugh of what seemed to be relief as well as amusement, before he replied with a charming grin.

"Oh don't worry, baby! The fun ain't over yet!" Sam smirked.

"I love you guys, but seriously Sam! Get in the damn car!" Nathan told him.

"I'm faster, stop arguing!" Sam rolled his eyes. "Tara's small enough to fit between the two of us!"

"I'll choose to take that as a compliment." I mumbled to myself.

Nathan and Sam continued their brotherly bickering, trying to make convincing arguments while we were going over 85 miles per hour. Finally, after several minutes, I began to grow anxious, and when I got anxious, I was very easily irritated.

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S ENOUGH!" I snapped.

Sam and Nathan stopped in the middle of their sentences, looking at me in bewilderment as they saw the angry expression that was very evident on my face.

"I don't give a shit whether you go with Sam or not Nate, but we've gotta do something, otherwise, we'll be fucking screwed! So make a damn decision why don't yah?!" I yelled impatiently.

"She's right Nathan! Just get over here! Both of you can fit! We'll be okay if we stick together!" Sam argued.

"God damn it, Sam- -" Nathan started. "LOOK OUT!"

My eyes widened as Sam was nearly hit by a huge bulking car, but he managed to pull back in the nick of time. I, however, didn't react fast enough and without hesitation, I held my arm in front of Nathan protectively as I attempted to use my arm as a seatbelt before it was too late.

* * *

"Jesus Christ!" Nathan breathed out.

My eyes blinked open slowly, seeing Nathan above me, dragging me across the dirt and mud away from the stolen vehicle that was now on fire.

"Tara! Wake up!" Nathan yelled worriedly.

My vision blurred as I moaned softly from the pain that spread across my body. I glanced over, seeing another huge Shoreline vehicle driving towards us, but before I was able to say anything, Sam came speeding over to us on the motorcycle.

"Get on!" Sam snapped.

Quickly, Nathan hauled my body to sit me on the motorcycle and got behind me until I was being sandwiched between the two brothers. I grew more aware that we were being chased down by that huge fucking truck and finally, I reached down the back of Sam's jeans, pulling out one of his extra guns before shooting behind me at Shoreline. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins as Nathan and I kept firing our weapons, and as Sam maneuvered the motorcycle expertly.

"DUCK!"

I laid my head down on Sam's back quickly, as we nearly slid off of the motorcycle, drifting underneath some obstacle in our path before we skidded to a stop. We glanced over at the Shoreline truck that was in flames at the construction site we were currently at. Nathan, Sam, and I breathed heavily, small smiles outstretching on our faces from our victory.

 _Go fuck yourself Rafe Adler, you and Shoreline can go suck a bag of dicks._

"Holy fuck." I let out a laugh. "I can't believe we just survived that."

"I'm still trying to process that you're somehow sandwiched between us on this motorcycle." Nathan joked.

"Hey, maybe I just like staying in shape. I'm very flexible and thin so ha _ha_. The joke's on you." I smirked.

Sam shook his head as he chuckled, but didn't comment. Finally, we headed back for the motel we were staying at.

* * *

By the time we reached the motel, the sun was setting, and the moon was starting to peek out from behind the clouds. The air was cool in King's Bay and as I still felt the adrenaline coursing through me, I barely noticed the breeze picking up. After meeting up with Sully again, I stole one of his cigars from his pockets and lit it up despite his objections.

"You know, it's very rude to take someone's belongings." Sully joked.

"So I'll buy you a whole case of Cuban cigars. I need this, so sssshhhh." I pursed my lips and inhaled.

"Damn, babe. You're shaking. Was that too much excitement for you?" Sam teased.

Sam wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Mind if I have a whiff of that cigar?" Sam purred in my ear.

"You've got your cigarettes, you leech." I teased.

"You just quit again Tara." Nathan shook his head.

"Yeah, well I haven't been in a car chase like that since we were at the Alps." I smirked.

"Don't remind me..." Nathan sighed.

 _Plus I started again since we got to Italy._

Nathan pulled out his notebook, along with a piece of paper he had tucked away inside.

"Pro Deus quod licentia." Nathan recited. "This looks like a simple cipher." He chuckled.

"For God and Liberty. It's that damn motto, all those paradise references. I can't believe we missed it." Sam grinned.

"Well." Sully clapped his hands together. "I see you three made it out okay."

"Way better than okay." Sam smiled brightly. "We found Libertalia. Tara was right." He laughed.

"Liber-what-ia?" Sully raised an eyebrow.

"Libertalia. It seems Avery founded the legendary pirate colony." Nate said, scribbling through his notebook.

"It was more of a pirate utopia really. Or as my parents liked to tell me." I let out another puff of smoke.

"Okay, but what about the treasure?" Sully asked.

I went over to Sully as we walked together, while Nathan scribbled in his notebook.

"See, as the story goes, this place provided a safe haven for hundreds- -maybe even _thousands_ of pirates. And they shared everything. Property, resources..." I explained excitedly.

"And money?"

"And they kept it all in one common treasury building." Sam finished with a smirk.

At this, Sully looked relieved and happy to hear the news.

"Okay, so..." Sully grinned. "Where is this...Commie pirate sanctuary?"

"Right here." Nate finally spoke up.

He handed his notebook over to us, allowing us to look at the map, along with his notes.

"Right on that island. Just northeast of King's Bay." Nate smirked.

"Nice work." I smiled smugly.

"And Rafe has a copy of this." Sully pointed out.

We followed Nathan as we conversed together, going to the room which held all of our supplies and belongings.

"Well by the time Rafe figures it out, we'll be well on our way to Libertalia." Nathan unlocked the door. "I'm tellin' yah. That treasure, is as good as ourss- -ssshit."

As we stepped inside the room, we were faced with two familiar faces we didn't expect to find here: Elena and Anne.

 _Fucking damn it._

"How's the Malaysia job going, Nate? Seems like you're a hair off course." Elena mumbled softly.

"Elena it's...it's not what it looks like." Nathan muttered weakly.

" _Really_...because what it looks like, is that you're searching for Henry Avery's buried treasure. And given the Shoreline soldiers that are all over town...I'd bet you're not the only ones looking for it."

"All right, well I...I guess it's kinda what it looks like." Nate smiled weakly, hoping to diffuse the tension.

Elena tossed the gun she held back onto the bed, as Anne sat quietly on top of the dresser nearby, just staring at all of us with an unreadable expression. Sam tensed up as he recognized Anne, probably from the small features that made her resemble him, and he tried to hold back that small gasp before it escaped. I found myself being frozen on the spot as Anne finally got up from her spot and hopped down to the floor.

"But, but I can explain." Nate said. "Look, it's gonna sound crazy."

"Try us." Anne interjected.

"Well, for starters, um...This is Sam." Nate explained. "Sam Drake. My brother."

Sam waved his hand weakly, as he uttered out a small greeting. Elena glanced over at Sully, pretty much verifying the story once seeing the saddened look on his face.

"I'm sorry." Sully sighed guiltily.

"I, I thought he had died in a Panamanian jail." Nate continued.

"I- -I need to..." Elena stumbled back.

"But I was obviously _very_ wrong. He's been stuck in there for fifteen years and it's because of me." Nathan told her. "And the guy that broke him out wants a lot of money, and the only way we can pay off the debt is Avery's treasure."

Elena closed her eyes, trying take deep breaths in attempt to calm down, but I could tell she was ready to explode.

"But that's the good news, we found it! It's on an island just off the coast- -"

"Okay, just **_stop_**." Elena cut him off. "Was there... _ever_ a Malaysia job?"

When Nathan found himself at a loss for words, Elena began to storm over to the front door.

"Elena wait!"

Elena whirled around as soon as she made it to the door, glaring at Nathan with such intensity that I'd never seen before.

"I don't get you." Elena muttered angrily.

"Look, I wanted to tell you- -"

"You know what? Enough!"

"I wanted to tell you but how could I?!"

"I don't know just say it?!" Anne stared at Nathan in disbelief.

"I had to protect you guys!" Nate argued.

"That is _bullshit_ , Nate! You just didn't have the nerve to face _me_. **Again**." Elena cut in.

"I knew you would react like this!" He objected.

"How would **you** react?! You lied to me...for _weeks_. If you or Tara were killed, I wouldn't have even known about it. Anne would be a fucking orphan! And now you have a brother? _Who are you?_ " Elena glared at her husband.

"Come on, I'm me. C'mon it's _me_." Nate sighed. "It's different this time." He tried to assure her.

"Oh my god." Elena shook her head.

"I have to save him! I don't even care about the treasure!" Nathan shouted.

"The look on your face when you walked into this room...if you're done lying to me, then you should stop lying to yourself. I can't believe you'd bring Tara into this. You knew she'd come because you're the only family she's got." Elena wiped away tears. "We've got a plane to catch. Come on Anne. Let's go."

Before Anne could object, Elena slammed the door behind her. Anne moved forward, glancing at me with the most pained expression on her face.

"So this is what you did when you were gone all these years? You...you lied..." Anne mumbled softly.

I stepped forward, feeling hurt when Anne took a step back from me.

"Baby, I can explain. I came because your uncle needed my help." I told her.

Anne then turned to glare at Nathan, something that surprised the four of us because she basically looked up to him, even idolized him, since she was a child.

"So you've been dragging my mother into your shit? _For all these years?_ " She snapped. "So, it wasn't enough to grow up without a father, but I could have lost my mother too? What the...what in the actual _fuck_ is wrong with you?"

I could hear her Boston accent growing stronger the angrier she became. I got in front of Nathan, noticing how hurt he looked from his niece snapping at him like this. I hated how Elena and Anne were putting **all** of the blame on Nathan. Sure he asked for my help, but I could have said no, and yet I didn't.

 _Deep down, I loved this life. I was just too scared to admit it for all of these years._

"Anne, I was _always_ going to tell you about all of this. I just wanted to wait until you were older and...and you're uncle isn't to blame. I came along willingly." I interjected again.

"Why? Why would you risk your life over some fucking treasure?!" She yelled angrily.

"Because I need to save someone I care about, and it isn't your uncle this time." I muttered softly.

I could feel myself shaking as I nearly let the truth slip out, knowing this would be the absolute worse time to tell Anne that her father was alive. It wasn't something that could be said so lightly, I had planned to sit her down and introduce her to Sam, but not like this.

"That's it?! That's all I get?!" Anne cried. "What? You need to save Sullivan?! Or this guy slinking back creepily?! WHAT?!"

I blinked away tears and finally stood tall as I gave my daughter a warning glance.

"Anne Bonnie Drake, you will _**not**_ take that tone with me. I'm sorry about this, more than you'll ever know. But this isn't some...some fucking vacation for me! I didn't want to leave! But then I knew what was at stake and I _had_ to be here with your uncles. This is actually important because I have to save- -I just have to...I can't- -I can't lose him- -"

I could feel my breathing falter, and suddenly it felt like the world was caving in on me. I whimpered as I fell to my knees holding my hands over my head protectively as I tried calming myself down, though I knew it was too late. I was having another panic attack before I even realized it.

"MOM!" Anne shouted.

Anne looked scared as she got down on her knees with me and slowly reached out to touch me, but I flinched away. Quickly, Sam got down to his knees as well, quickly embracing me and began to rub soothing circles on my back. It was something that managed to calm me down when I was younger, though it had been years since Sam had to hold me like this.

"Sssh. It's okay. Yer fine, baby. It'll be okay." Sam murmured in my ear.

"Get away from her!" Anne glared at Sam. "I don't know you, and I certainly don't- -"

"Come on, kid. It's okay." Sully looked down at his niece.

"What the hell do you mean it's okay?! No! I'm not leaving her! She needs me- -"

"Anne. Come. We need to talk." Sully gave her a serious look.

Anne wiped away tears from her eyes before she reluctantly stood up and followed Sullivan out of the room.

"Come on back to me, Tara. It's okay." Sam mumbled.

Sam placed his forehead against mine before placing a small kiss on my lips.

"Sam...Sam don't leave me." I choked back a sob.

Sam seemed almost shell-shocked at this plea, but he nodded his head quickly.

"I'll never leave you again, baby. I promise." Sam told me.

"...I'm sorry." I barely whispered.

"Hey...you've got nothing to be sorry for. It happens." Sam assured me. "Nathan told me your anxiety went through the roof since I've been away, and...I get it. I really do."

"Where's Anne?" I asked.

"Sully took her out to have a word with her. She's okay." Sam answered.

I nearly sighed in relief and shakily moved to stand up, before nearly collapsing again. Sam caught me and moved to pick me up bridal style.

"Are you always this weak in the knees for me, baby-doll?" Sam lightly joked.

I could feel myself smile at Sam's words and laid my head on his chest as I felt exhaustion take over me. Sam turned back and gave Nathan a pained look as he moved towards the door.

"You need any help, Nathan?" Sam asked.

"No. I'm fine. Just...go take care of her." Nathan grumbled.

Nathan stood by the desk and kept looking down at every clue we had on Avery's treasure before getting to work again. Sam nodded and finally left with me in his arms.

* * *

 **FLASH!**

 _"I just don't understand girls sometimes! They're so fucking- -"_

 _I glared at Sam as I put out my cigarette and folded my arms as Sam gave me a sheepish smile. Even at 16, I could still see through Sam's bullshit._

 _"Go ahead and finish your sentence, I dare you." I told him._

 _Sam let out a dejected sigh before sitting down beside me on the roof top of St. Francis's orphanage._

 _"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. You're one of the good girls." Sam let out a small chuckle._

 _I shook my head as I leaned back to stare up at the sky, amazed at how many stars were out tonight._

 _"I'm sorry about Crystal. I knew you liked her a lot." I mumbled._

 _"Yeah, well...what's done is done. There are other fish in the sea." Sam replied._

 _"Ha. Never thought I'd hear you say some cheesy shit like that." I snorted._

 _Sam then gave me a playful glare, the look that caused the butterflies in my stomach to go in a frenzy and make my lower half heat up like a forest fire. When you're a teenager, your hormones go fucking crazy over small things like that, and it pissed me off a lot. It didn't take much to realize how handsome and cute Sam had become over the years._

 _"Sorry, princess. What was that?" Sam lowered his voice._

 _I gasped as I realized how close our faces were now, and shivered from his warm breath fanning my face gently._

 _"I- -I said..."_

 _I quickly put my hands on Sam's chest to push him away from me, but once his hands had enclosed around my wrists, I knew I was done for. If Sam was going to make a move, I wouldn't hold back either. I'll be selfish this one time._

 _"Sam..." I whimpered._

 _"I know you didn't like Crystal, but not for the reasons I once thought. You like me, don't you Tara?" Sam cut to the chase._

 _Why the hell does he have to say my name like that?_

 _"I do. But Sam..." I paused. "You just broke up with a girl you liked a lot. We shouldn't be doing this..."_

 _"You're right just...I need to take my mind off of her. Do you mind if I just...kiss you once?" Sam muttered softly._

 _"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Sammy." I sighed._

 _"Come on...just one kiss." Sam pouted._

 _"Sam- -"_

 _"Please, doll-face?"_

 _I shivered at the nickname and grew nervous as Sam quickly caught on to my reaction._

 _"Shit, you like little pet names huh?" Sam smirked._

 _"God you're such a horn-dog!" I blurted out._

 _Sam laughed at my comment and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. We sat in silence for several minutes again, just staring up at the stars once more._

 _"Just one kiss?"_

 _"Sam!" I groaned in frustration._

 _"I'm not hearing a no..." Sam joked lightly._

 _I broke my gaze up at the sky and looked at Sam before biting my bottom lip._

 _"Just...don't make fun of me. I've never..."_

 _"Never what?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Kissed anyone?"_

 _I shyly nodded and could feel my face heat up in embarrassment._

 _"I can teach ya if y' want." Sam offered. "I was bad at it at first. But...I got better. Just follow my lead okay? We won't do anything else." He smiled warmly._

 _"Really?" I muttered._

 _"Tara, I would never do anything you didn't want." Sam grew serious._

 _"Okay." I nodded._

 _With that said, our faces moved closer inch by inch. I could feel Sam's breath fan my face lightly as he reached to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. Finally, I could feel his lips graze mine and I waited in anticipation._

 _"Relax, baby-doll. I'll take care of ya." Sam mumbled huskily._

 _I shuddered before I realized it and felt my eyes close as our lips finally connected. It wasn't like the romantic movies had made kissing seem like at all, for some reason it felt even better. The both of us laid against the roughness of the rooftop as our kissing began to grow more heated. I could feel Sam's hand move along my hip until it reached down to my ass and squeezed. I gasped against Sam's lips and could feel him smirking as his tongue slipped into my mouth. I pulled back slightly from the foreign sensation and stared at Sam in awe as well as lust._

 _"It's just French-kissing. Don't worry." Sam told me. "Just relax and enjoy the ride."_

 _I felt my eyes flutter shut again before Sam slipped his tongue back into my mouth. I moaned softly as Sam gently bit my tongue and could feel that warm sensation in my lower belly begin to manifest. I instinctively maneuvered my legs over his waist and moved our hips together. I once tried to masturbate when I felt this way once, but failed miserably because I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I couldn't deny that Sam made me feel incredibly horny, though that could be my hormones talking. Either way, I wanted to feel more, and experience more with Sam. Sam moaned against my lips as I slowly grinded my hips against his. He broke the kiss and looked at me through half-lidded eyes._

 _"Jesus. You sure you haven't done this before?" Sam joked. "You're awfully good at it."_

 _"I'm sorry. I can't...I can't help it." I stammered._

 _"Damn...if I'd known that it would take kissin' to make your brain short circuit like this, I woulda' done it months ago." Sam smirked._

 _I bit my bottom lip again to prevent any noises from escaping. I could see the lust and adoration in Sam's expression as he moved his hand down to the zipper of my jeans and unbuttoned them._

 _"Is it okay if I get you off? I'm not gonna lie, yer really doin' things to me." Sam lowered his voice._

 _Hearing those words from Sam's lips made me whimper as I could feel myself getting wetter by the second. I could tell that Sam knew what he was doing and reluctantly spread my legs for him as a sign of approval. Sam nodded before moving to unzip and unbutton my pants. Once Sam could see my underwear he leaned down to give me another kiss. Sam kept eyecontact with me as he moved his hand underneath my underwear and finally touched my lower lips. I gasped loudly against Sam's mouth as I felt him rub his fingers teasingly against me._

 _"S- -Sam." I whimpered._

 _"I haven't even started yet, babe." Sam breathlessly spoke._

 _My eyes widened as I felt pleasure spark down in my very core and felt my hips twitch against Sam's hand as his fingers expertly moved against the small bundle of nerves down below. My mouth widened as I threw my head back, letting a small breathless moan escape my lips as Sam continued to massage my clit._

 _"Oh...oh God- -Sam- -" I muttered._

 _"It's ironic that we're at a Catholic orphanage." Sam chuckled._

 _I couldn't even bring myself to hit Sam from his lame joke, and continued to move my hips against his hand. I began to grow desperate for friction and could feel my breathing pick up._

 _"That's it, baby. Let go for me." Sam murmured into my ear._

 _It only took three more minutes before I moaned loudly into Sam's mouth, biting his bottom lip as I finally climaxed for the first time with another boy. White splashed against my vision as I rode out the waves of my orgasm, and eagerly flicked my tongue against Sam's. After things settled down, Sam removed his hand from my pants and licked his fingers clean. I blinked tiredly up at Sam and caught him smiling at me warmly before claiming my lips once more._

 _"Well...that was fun." I finally spoke._

 _Sam laughed at my response and kissed me again._

 _"Just fun?" Sam raised an eyebrow suggestively._

 _"It was orgasmtastic." I joked._

 _"Oh my god." Sam snickered._

 _"Hey...uh, joking aside...thank you for that." I grew serious._

 _"No problem, sweetness." Sam replied. "Anytime. I'll be your first for everything."_

 _"Oh really?"_

 _"Fuck yeah." Sam smirked._

 **FLASH!**

* * *

 _Hey guys! I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I updated. I've been incredibly busy with my job and my semester starting up again. Anyway, on another note, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I've never written any sort of smut, so I hope you enjoyed that. If it wasn't good, I'll get better at it, I promise. A lot of these flashbacks just kind of vary widely from their teenage years and early adulthood. So, if anyone's confused about that, there you go. ANYWAY, let me know you think! I love you guys!_


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